Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances

I bought this as a gift for my husband, who has read and enjoyed some of Gaiman's other work (e.g., American Gods). This book of short stories was a departure from what he had previously read, but he liked it so much he read it all in an afternoon. If you are familiar with Gaiman and enjoy his writing style, this book will not disappoint. Recommended.

This book was terrible. Of the short stories, a couple were ok, most were not, and several were basically nonsensical gibberish that I can only surmise the author wrote while under the influence. What baffles me is how this actually got published.

Neal has been consistently one of my favorite authors to walk the planet but this collection fell a bit flat at various intervals. Surprisingly, he seems to perform best here when writing stories about established characters such as Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Who and Shadow from American Gods though I did enjoy his original Duke character as well. Nevertheless, his ominous warning in the introduction seems a bit overstated as the genuine scares here are far and few between.

Mr. Gaiman seems to be distracted these days, and this collection seemed to be thrown together for commercial purposes. I read a couple of stories and lost interest - unusual for this Gaiman fan who's sung his praises as a consummate story-teller. (OTOH, spouse read the whole thing and kinda liked it.)

In my oppinion, Neil Gaiman is the best storyteller of our present era. If there was sexual content or violence in the stories, they certain were not the center piece of the story ... actually stories were so engaging, I don't remember any violence or sexual content.

A good collection of Neil Gaiman's shorter works, including some poetry. Some of the stories are not for the faint of heart. There's an American Gods story, and The Return of the Thin White Duke" is a gem

I am a big Neil Gaiman fan, especially fond of THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE. TRIGGER WARNING is nothing like OCEAN. It's a collection of poems and short stories that are slightly off kilter. Gaiman is such a wonderful writer that he holds you interest and springs his surprises on you with delight.

The stories are generally interesting, but sound more like a sandbox for Gaiman's serious work than fully-fleshed stories. I understand the creative process behind a few more of the Dr. Who episodes after reading these. They're good, but after a while you start feeling like you've already read them.

I would have liked this more without the prologue and the epilogue. Gaiman writes good stories, but as an autobiographer he reads as very self-important and -congratulatory, and as far less progressive than he thinks he is, and this coloured my reading of the book.

Disappointing. For all the dire warnings in the preface, the stories themselves are bland and bloodless. One or two are fairly clever, but that's the best that I can say for them. Scraps from the cutting room floor?

The mind of Neil Gaiman is a fertile place of gods, monsters, aliens, magic lingering in ordinary places and a sense that the world is a much wilder, stranger place than we think it is.

And all those things come up in "Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances," Gaiman's third collection of his short stories and poems -- while these stories can be as different from each other as humanly possible (an ode to David Bowie, a few twisted fairy tales, a historical story about a Scottish dwarf with revenge on his mind), they share a sense of magic and cosmic wonderment, misting through his elegant, versatile prose.

Among the tales here:
* "Black Dog," a story set a few years after "American Gods." Shadow is wandering through England on his way back to the US, when he meets a kindly couple who allow him to stay in their home. But the specter of a faerie dog brings death, mystery, and an ancient magic that could be fatal even to an American god...
* A Scottish dwarf asks a former reaver to help him find a certain cave, supposedly filled with magical gold. As the two men journey to the Misty Isle, the dwarf gradually reveals his true reason for being there.
* A haunting look at the old age of Sherlock Holmes, reflecting on the decay of the British empire and solving one final mystery.
* A timid young artist hears that his first teenage girlfriend has been in contact with some of the people he knows... and the problem is, he made her up.
* Jemima Glorfindel Petula Ramsey's questionnaire, and exactly what happened to her fake-tan-loving sister Nerys. Hint: it involves floating, glowing, claims of godhood and dark chocolate.
* A year's worth of mini-stories, involving ghosts, pirates, genies, preteen soldiers, vicious ducks, a brazier, a homeless kid, a mysterious string of bizarre deliveries, disagreeing parents, igloos made of books, Australian fires and what they create, and a magical ring that keeps coming back.
* A handful of poems, about chairs, landladies, Saint Columba, a witch who "hid her life in a box made of dirt," and the evil fairy from "Sleeping Beauty."
* A flea market seller who has a strange story of time travel, interdimensional rooms, ancient empires, tiny statuettes and a boy named Farfal The Unfortunate.
* Obediah Polkinghorn, the Uninventor, who has the ability to alter reality so that certain inventions (flying cars, jetpacks, the Wispamuzak) never come into existence, and what he does when he finished uninventing forever.
* "Nothing O'Clock," a Dr. Who fanfic (does it count as a fanfic if it's professionally published, and is by a man who has written actual episodes?), where the Doctor and Amy arrive on Earth... only to discover that it is devoid of humans, after being officially sold to the Kin. How to fix it? Go back to when it was first sold by an unwitting family!
* A pair of fairy tales retold in Gaiman's sensibilities -- an update of "Diamonds and Toads" set in a bleak, dreary urban environment, and "The Sleeper and the Spindle," a sort of mash-up of "Snow White" and "Sleeping Beauty," starring a queen who decides to rescue a legendary sleeping princess with the help of her dwarf sidekicks.
* And several other stories that linger on the fringes -- a "lunar labyrinth" that grants wishes to people who successfully navigate it, a love letter, a mother lamenting her son's horrifying death at sea, a pleasantly unimpressive mother who knows of interesting "adventures," a man struggling to remember the name of a great author, a guy who learns of the madness that comes from visiting Jerusalem, a spooky little story about the terrifying Click-Clacks, and a mythic sci-fi ode to David Bowie.

Many authors are commonly called "magical," but Neil Gaiman deserves the label more than most -- he has a special knack for unpredictability that few authors can even approach. Not only can anything happen in his collections of short stories, but you have no idea what KIND of "anything" will flow from the wellspring of his mind. There's no obvious pattern, no overarching theme that might restrict his imagination.

And that is one of the best aspects of "Trigger Warning." In this collection, Gaiman deftly leaps from the macabre to the whimsical, the gloriously weird to the dramatic, the haunting to the magical. No matter how mundane the setting, he can draw back a veil and reveal something that was hidden from our eyes, whether it's dark magic ("Black Dog," "About Cassandra"), personal tragedy and drama ("Down To A Sunless Sea," "The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains") or just the strangeness of the world we live in which we otherwise might not notice ("Jerusalem").

And his writing is no less versatile. While every story is written in a crisp, shimmering style that is very recognizably his, he drifts around through different kinds of stories -- one is told through a questionnaire, another is an overheard monologue, and some are just conversations. What unites them is the glimmering clarity of his writing, full of beautiful similes ("His hair framed his face like a wolf-grey halo") and snappy cleverness ("And pterodactyls have been extinct for fifty million years." "If you say so, dear. Your father never really talked about it").

Neil Gaiman at his best is on display in "Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances" -- a collage of shorter pieces, ranging from darkly enchanting novellas to magical little puffs of whimsy. There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy, but a few of them can be found here.

I just finished reading Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman, and once again he has hit the ball out of the park. This is another fantastic collection of short stories from one of the best story-tellers around. There is no specific theme running through the stories; however, Gaiman mentions that a "trigger warning" suggests that readers should be aware that they may encounter characters or situations that may "trigger" fear or otherwise upset them. (I didn't really see this, although several of the stories are dark, bordering on downright creepy).

While several of the stories were previously published, but they were all new to me. Among my favorites are: A Lunar Labyrinth (very creepy); The Case of Death and Honey (a terrific Sherlock Holmes story which also explains how he seems to live longer than he should); Nothing O'Clock (a Doctor Who story with the Eleventh Doctor: It seemed to perfectly capture Matt Smith's portrayal of the Doctor, and was a terrific read); and Kether to Malkuth (a bittersweet story that seems to be even deeper than it appears, and is hard to explain); and The Sleeper and the Spindle (a cool and unique retelling of the Snow White and Sleeping Beauty stories).

Gaiman is a master at his craft, and like pretty much everything else he writes, Trigger Warning is wonderful. It is immersive and sublime, hiding themes and bigger ideas in prose that is exquisite and easy to read (that should be a book blurb).

One caution - The main reason I wanted to read this book was for the story Black Dog, which closes the collection (it is a sequel to Gaiman's terrific American Gods). Unfortunately, my preview copy did not contain this story, which means I'm going to have to work to track it down.

I highly recommend Trigger Warning. Gaiman fans will love it, and the short story format provides an easy and unintimidating way to sample his works for those looking to read him for the first time.

I received a preview copy of this book from HarperCollins Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

First I am a Neil Gaiman fan. This collection is awful. Why all the glowing reviews I don't know. There are maybe 3-4 stories that you get for your money. Not worth the price of admission. Was hoping for some of the same as his early works. I will think twice about buying his upcoming new stories.

when i couldnt tell when the forward ended and the book began, i got irritated. im not a fan of short stories anyway. if they are good, you want a full book. if they are bad, they can ruin your taste for the rest of the authors offerings. im a fan of mr gaiman but i found this collection a little indulgent.

First time reading Gaiman's stories.

First couple of stories were okay. Interesting plot, style was appealing. Then after that, stories just dragged and dragged. Like listening to someone who likes the sound of his own voice. Got really boring. Couldn't finish the book.

Neil Gaiman. You know him, you love him. Or you don’t. It depends on what you’ve read from his bibliography. If you’ve read his comics, you definitely love him. If you’ve read his novels, maybe. If you’ve read his work for children, yeah, you love him. If you’ve read his short story, maybe.

For me, Gaiman’s work for adults has always been iffy. For the most part, I can see where he’s going with it, but in the end I’m left feeling unchanged by the experience. I loved his short stories early on when my friend Brian scored me a signed copy of Gaiman’s audio collection WARNING: CONTAINS LANGUAGE. Most of the titles on those discs then appeared in Gaiman’s first collection, SMOKE AND MIRRORS, which I greatly enjoyed. This prompted me to buy his second collection, FRAGILE THINGS, years later when it came out. It was alright. Nothing special, honestly. Coulda taken it or left it, honestly. But I’m a Gaiman fan either way, so when his third and latest collection TRIGGER WARNING was released, I knew I would buy it regardless. I mean let’s be honest here, I’m going to pay money for a Neil Gaiman book, that’s just a fact of life. Even if I end up not being all that impressed with the book in the end, I’m going to buy it.

So I finished TRIGGER WARNING and, unfortunately, I feel much the same about this collection as I did FRAGILE THINGS. It’s got its high points, but there are some low, but those lows aren’t like others authors’ lows. Normally you run into a clunker in a famous author’s collection and you can sort of see their intention in attempting that particular story, even if it doesn’t do it for you. Gaiman’s lows are different breed altogether, however. See, Gaiman’s lows, for me, are more of the “Oh. Ok.” variety. The premise earns a shrug, the execution another, and since most of the pieces in this collection were written to order, I see why he wrote them, I just maybe don’t get why he felt it necessary to include in this book.

An example would be “An Invocation of Incuriosity”, which Gaiman says won the Locus Award for Best Short Story, but it just didn’t move me at all. Originally written for an anthology of Jack Vance “Dying Earth” stories, I totally see why he wrote it, I just don’t see what’s so special about it to take up space in this book. I mean, the story didn’t do much at all for me, so why am I reading it?

Another was “The Sleeper and the Spindle”, originally written for RAGS AND BONES: New Twists on Timeless Tales. This alternate take on the story of Sleeping Beauty, with some Snow White thrown in, was an interesting exercise but the end result just wasn’t my thing. Granted I’m not much of a fantasy reader, so most of that genre doesn’t connect with me the way it would for die-hard fans, and maybe that’s the problem here. But it was one of the longer stories here and it felt, to me, like I was wasting time on something that didn’t interest me just so I could say I read the entire book.

Now, on the other hand, I don’t want you to think the entire collection was a steaming pile of MEH. There was some brilliance in these pages as well.

The story “The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury” was touching and tragic and a wonderful piece of writing that has gained a place among my favorite Neil Gaiman writings. His story “The Thing About Cassandra”, about a man who is told his friends and family have been talking to the girl who took the narrator’s virginity years ago--even though the narrator knows full well he made her up--was such an intriguing premise I had to barrel on through to see what happened. And what happened was the absolute LAST thing I expected was going to happen, so good on Neil for that one.

“My Last Landlady” was a great piece of viciousness, while “A Calendar of Tales”, a Twitter experiment gone right, shows Gaiman to be the absolute professional I always dreamed he was. “May Tale” in the Calendar of Tales was chilling while “July Tale” and “November Tale” heartbreaking and beautiful.

Then there’s “Nothing O’Clock” Imagine my great delight when I opened the book one morning, started the next story, and read these words: “The Time Lords built a prison.”

Hell yeah, they did. Set in the world of Matt Smith’s 11th Doctor, this tale pleased me to no end and what I wouldn’t have given to see this story filmed!

And how can I not mention “The Return of the Thin White Duke”? As a LONG-time Bowie fan, the title alone won me over. It was just icing on the cake that the story that followed was great, too.

For me, it’s impossible to say TRIGGER WARNING was a great collection. That would be lying. With a little pruning here and there, yes, it could have been equal to SMOKE AND MIRRORS. But it wasn’t. However, given the number of stories I loved, I can’t say it’s a bad one, either. At best, TRIGGER WARNING is a 3.5 star out of 5 book. I do believe someone more in tune with fantasy would rate it higher than that, but those kind of stories just tend to bore me after a while. In those cases, the most I can do to get through them is to imagine them being read in Gaiman’s voice. For some reason that always makes everything better. So maybe if I’d listened to the audio book instead of read the hardcover? Possibly. But I didn’t. So for me, the hardcover is 3.5, which is higher than I expected after FRAGILE THINGS, but lower than I like rating Gaiman. I mean he’s Neil friggin’ Gaiman. CORALINE? THE WOLVES IN THE WALLS? THE SANDMAN? Yeah, that guy. Giving Gaiman less than a perfect rating sometimes feels like telling your dad you like your step dad better. It hurts, but sometimes you just gotta tell it like it is.

There are a few good stories in here, but most are mediocre and don't seem fully fleshed out. I was also disappointed because I thought this was an entirely new collection--it isn't. Several of the stories I had read before in other volumes.

I like Neil Gaiman a lot, but I think people are fanboying so hard over his writing that the 4.5 stars this collection gets is very overinflated. My thoughts on a few of the stories:

A Lunar Labyrinth-- short, not particularly innovative. The inversion of the hunter/hunted has been done many times before
The Thing About Cassandra-- I found the twist to be lackluster
"The Truth..." -- one of the longer stories in the book, and I've read it before so that was disappointing
My Last Landlady -- not very good or creative
Adventure Story -- could have been a good story if it was longer
Orange -- has also been published before
A Calendar of Tales -- this one was enjoyable, but any one of these could have been fleshed out into a complete short story and I think it would have been better. They read like a series of outlines or notations you'd make to yourself for longer stories.
The Case of Death and Honey -- pretty good, could have been longer
The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury -- has been published before
Jerusalem -- no. If this story did not have Neil Gaiman's name attached, no one would care.
Click-Clack -- okay, short, not too creepy
Nothing O'Clock -- cute, even if you are not a Dr. Who fan, but it's Dr. Who fanfic....that's it
Diamonds and Pearls -- fractured fairy tale using his wife as the protagonist (ugh)
The Return of the Thin White Duke -- this was pretty good, wish the whole collection had been as developed as this story
Feminine Endings -- another homage to his wife's previous career as a living statue. Didn't like it.
Observing the Formalities -- short fairy tale poem, could have been written for a college creative writing class
The Sleeper and the Spindle -- rushed, not very good reworked fairy tale. Has nothing on Snow, Glass, Apples or Chivalry two of his best fairy tale-inspired stories from a much earlier collection

Overall I was disappointed in this collection because it was so overhyped. If you are reasonably familiar with Gaiman's work you will have read a lot of these before, and it's definitely not worth buying the hardcover.

Once upon...Gaiman was my favorite author. He still holds a very special place in my heart, though lately primarily for sentimental reasons. And yet, I thought this one might be fun to listen to and it most happily was. Neil Gaiman is basically a universe's answer to one of the oldest queries, particular to children and dreamers...tell me a story. Maybe that's why his stories more often than not sound like fairy tales. But point is, he'll tell you a story. He'll even read it to you. He did a tremendous job with this audiobook, I've never before listened to an author actually reading his work, so not much to compare with, but this was great, on par with the best professional actors and/or narrators. This isn't a perfect book, it's quite uneven for one thing, but he warns readers of that. Not all of the stories were spectacular, but the ones that were really were magical and it's nice to see that the man still has the talent and that stunning imagination that stole your heart so long ago, though seemingly now restricted to short and shorter forms. I really enjoyed the djinn story. The fantasy one with the dwarf not so much. Shadow Moon made an appearance. Awesome. Thoroughly entertaining is the impression, in no small part due to the terrific listening experience, the sort that actually makes you look forward to taking walks just to hear the next tale. Very moving, very charming, very lovely book. Enthusiastically recommended for anyone who ever asked to be told a story.

For those unfamiliar with it, the term "trigger warning" is associated most often with therapy. When you're going to say something that could trigger negative emotions and bring up past traumas etc, you say "Trigger warning" beforehand, so that people can prepare themselves, put up their defenses, or as Gaiman puts it in his introduction, "secure their own masks." His warning is that most of these stories end badly for at least one character in them, and the title, plus the awesomely eerie front cover is warning enough of the darkness found in these pages.

What's so awesome about Gaiman is that, even when delving into the darkest of things, there is a spark of light to his writing and to his beliefs, which shines through in the characters. Some of the stories you could tell he must have been having devilish, sadistic fun with, and some felt weighted down with the darkness, and I loved every blend of the stories found in here. Some of the stories I would finish reading and shut the book for a moment, wide-eyed, thoughtful, thinking "Wow, gosh, that was sad," or, instead of sad, sometimes genuinely frightening or just outright shocking. Almost every story in here affected me in some way, some leaving me with a very fun kind of "I've been messed with" feeling, while some left a profound trace on me. All of these put together makes Trigger Warning easily one of the best, if not THE best, collection of short stories I have ever read. Not one of these stories did I dislike, and even in the ones I didn't love there were things that I loved about them--and being a lover of poetry, the poems in here were beautiful and yes, considerably haunting. Gaiman never loses that whimsical feeling that is unique to most Gaiman writings. As for the individual stories and poems, it's easy to find a list, and I won't list them all, but here are just some of my favorites with my brief thoughts on them so that you might have a decent idea of what this masterpiece of a collection contains, and don't worry I won't describe them, so no spoilers:

-The Thing About Cassandra: This is one of those that left me feeling genuinely saddened and kind of in shock, but it was beautiful and left me amazed by Gaiman's ability as a writer and also his mind.

-The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains: Easily one of my favorite short stories of all time, from any collection from any author, this one was somber and melancholic, told in a voice that holds so much pain, in a literary story that is a kind of twist on a folktale--it's a story of tragedy and also much more, which you discover slowly throughout the whole story. It took me by surprise and, I'm not ashamed to say, had some "Oh my god" moments for me. This is one of many I'll be thinking about for some time.

-My Last Landlady: A surprisingly dark yet still whimsical poem, the imagery and a few lines of which have stuck with me and I imagine will continue to for some time.

-Adventure Story: very short, and while Gaiman calls it a companion piece to The Ocean at the End of the Lane in how its a meditation on death and the stories people take with them when they die, to me it was equally about the relationship between a mother and a son, in a very comical and bizarre way. Gaiman's gift for characters and dialogue, especially in such a short story as this, is amazing, and this one had me laughing out loud.

-A Calendar of Tales: One of my favorites in this collection, it's a collection of stories all its own, one totally unique one for each month. It had me in suspense, always curious, laughing at times, and sort of sad at others.

-the Case of Death and Honey: a different take on Sherlock Holmes, making the suggestion that our literary heroes are subject to the passage of time just as is anyone, but with another twist awaiting.

-Nothing O'Clock: I know nothing about Dr. Who, but enjoyed this story so much. It was kind of eerie, and kind of sad, and funny and so much fun.

-Feminine Endings: One of the more downright creepy ones of this book, it's kind of sweet, which increases how creepy it is.

-In Relig Odhrain: Probably my favorite poem here, it deals with the island of Iona, which is beautiful in itself, yet this is a very dark tale of a poem with quite a powerful voice to it.

-Black Dog: the story exclusive to this story collection, it's a continuation of the character Shadow Moon, from Gaiman's masterpiece "American Gods," and brilliant as one could expect.

Overall, I couldn't suggest this short story collection more. It's my favorite of Neil Gaiman's short story collections, which is saying something considering how much I personally loved Fragile Things, and while it deals with some heavy darkness, it never loses hope entirely, not in the big picture, and it ranks among master Gaiman's best works.

Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman has been on my TBR pile for a regrettably long time. Neil, as always, remains one of my favourite authors – or at least one of the authors I will forever look up to for the way that he effortlessly dips into history, legend and sometimes assorted fandoms to weave together tales with mythic qualities. He KNOWS stories on a deep, visceral level. So there is that.

As Neil so aptly puts it, this volume consists of “short fictions & disturbances”, and in and of itself is a valuable little trove to document some of the man’s writing that may otherwise have been scattered and hard to track down. So from the perspective of record keeping, I feel it’s important for any author to at some point do a bit of curating. What was also incredibly helpful was Neil’s foreword, where he gives a little background into each story – that’s gold and gives a bit of context.

The stories themselves are eclectic in nature, and for me the overall impact was a little hit and miss. But then, what works for one reader might not work for another. I will, however, mention some of the tales that stood out for me.

“Adventure Story” hit me with a gut punch – ostensibly a story within a story, of a man packing up his deceased father’s things, and learning more about the old man from his mother than he expected. Perhaps the sting in the tale is the denial of imagination and, as the title suggests, adventure.

I loved “A Calendar of Tales” – a strange story for each month. I had the pleasure of hearing Neil read out “October Tale” about a genie out of a lamp at the Amanda Palmer show I saw this year. And I love that story especially because I can still hear the exact way he read it. The stories themselves leave more mysteries than anything else, and I think that’s why I love them so much. They leave me wondering. And wandering.

Then “The Case of Death and Honey” dips into the Sherlock Holmes milieu, and blends the themes of immortality, bees and honey. I won’t say any more than that, except that this particular story resonated with me, especially in how it juxtaposes the two narrators.

“The Return of the Thin White Duke” reminded me an awful lot of classic Sandman-type stories. I’d started reading it online a while back but lost the link, so to dig into it now was lovely. It’s an origin story for David Bowie, and a fitting one indeed.

“The Sleeper and the Spindle” is also reproduced here in its entirety – and is suitably epic and gives quite a twist on the Sleeping Beauty fairytale.

Last in the collection, which I enjoyed immensely, was “Black Dog” – a novelette featuring Shadow Moon of American Gods, whose rambling through the English countryside uncovers darkness beneath the veneer of civilisation.

My main feeling is that there’s a little bit of everything in this collection, and some stories might speak to readers more than others. At any rate, I’m a die hard fan who’ll most likely come back to dip into individual tales in the future, so this one’s got a permanent spot in my library.

As a sci-fi fan who had heard good things about Gaiman but had never read him, I decided to start with whatever I could find at the local library. "Trigger Warning" was it. Unfortunately, it should have come with a boredom warning. With the exception of "The Truth Is A Cave In The Black Mountains..." there was nothing here to hold my attention. Gaiman's tone is smug and precious, as if he can't bring himself to remove his tongue from his cheek. The aforementioned good story surprised me with its radically different tone. For once, I was drawn in and captivated. The story reminded me of Roger Zelazny, no small feat.

If Gaiman has written any full-length works that have that high level of writing, I'd be grateful if a reader would indicate it in the Comments section of my review, below.

Otherwise, I don't think I'll be bothering with Gaiman in the future.

Gaiman at his best and most focused is nothing short of genius, but this haphazard collection of bits and pieces failed to stir even a glimmer of enthusiasm for me. It would not have surprised me if the genesis of this collection began with a phone call from Gaiman's publisher: "Hey, Neil, you got any old, undeveloped scraps just languishing around your office? If so, give 'em a quick polish and we'll release a new anthology."

The tales and poems and other curiosities in 'Trigger Warning' all seem to have a distinctly lackluster quality. Many entries appear jarringly truncated, as if they were originally vague ideas for stories that were toyed-with and subsequently abandoned. Several are astonishingly uninspired and boring. Hollow, vapid, and drowsy are a few other adjectives I'd ascribe to this assemblage.

Two or three tales showed signs of Gaiman's incomparable focus and potential (the one about the dwarf and his search for gold on the misty isle, and the Sherlock Holmes piece) but even these offerings are painfully below Gaiman's usual sterling standard for fiction, whether short or longform. And I can't even remember the titles of these particular stories, which is another irregularity in my own longtime fandom of Neil's oeuvre.

As a champion of Gaiman's craft, this is the first release that has truly disappointed me. Maybe he's been blogging too much the last few years, or maybe his pubber really did press him for the literary equivalent of driftwood just to make a buck. Whatever the case, these works are not up to par, and it is all the more evident due to the fact that Gaiman's output has hitherto been so uniformly superb. The opposite side of this coin is that a craftsman of his caliber cultivates such a "fanboy" devotion that even his occasional clunkers are welcomed with breathless adoration.

I hope this misfire is not a sign of decline, and I have faith that Gaiman's best work is still to come --which is a tantalizing thought. Nevertheless, because this book was so lame, I'll read a preview before buying his next one, and I have purchased his work sight unseen since the '90s.

A Trigger warning is that thing stuck on just about everything from music to books to TV shows that warns us that the material may be disturbing to some of us. As Neil Gaiman describes it

"There are things that upset us...images or words or ideas that drop like trapdoors beneath us, throwing us out of our safe, sane world into a place much more dark and less welcoming. Our hearts skip a ratatat drum-beat in our chests and we fight for breath. Blood retreats from our faces and our fingers, leaving us pale and gasping and shocked...

What do we need to be warned about? We each have our own little triggers."

So, given Neil Gaiman's ability to write stories that are guaranteed to disturb, it is certainly appropriate that this latest collection of his short stories has been titled Trigger Warning. Most of the stories have been published previously but, unless you're that intrepid super fan that has hunted for every crumb of Gaiman ephemera, there's sure to be something here to please or better yet send chills up the spine.

Granted not all of these stories are creepy or scary or even a little spine-tingling and, as in every collection of short stories, I like some better than others but they are all great fun to read and they all have Gaiman's signature twist, making even the most familiar tale seem new again. My personal favourites were The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains in which two men set out in search of gold and revenge and Orange which is a strange list of answers to a questionnaire about aliens, jam, and other assorted things. But I thoroughly enjoyed all of the others including a Sherlock Holmes tale, The Case of Death and Honey and a Doctor Who story, Nothing O'clock. There are also a couple of fairly well-known fairy tales that Gaiman has rewritten in very interesting ways.

Gaiman is that rare writer who never fails to enchant, entertain, and ensnare the imagination of his readers and Trigger Warning is typical Gaiman. Heck, I even enjoyed reading his Introduction almost as much as I did the stories. So if you're a fan or even if you're not, there's bound to be something here to delight as well as disturb.

Authors as prolific, successful and admired as Neil Gaiman don't really need to explain their choices in storytelling or editing. But in his latest collection, TRIGGER WARNING, Gaiman lifts the veil just a bit for readers, giving them insight into his creative process and inspirations for these previously published “short fictions and disturbances.” Readers can peruse the introductory message for each piece before or after reading them, enriching their understanding and glimpsing details or connections they otherwise may have missed.

The short stories and poems in TRIGGER WARNING are diverse --- from fairy tales retold to traditional horror, from folktales to sci-fi, and lots in between. There is something for every type of Gaiman fan here, and those new to his work will find this to be a solid introduction to the type of stories he crafts: lyrical, literary, sometimes quite chilling, and always strange and provocative. Each of these pieces is truly, as Gaiman says short fiction should be, a “small adventure.”

Setting the tone is the first story, “A Lunar Labyrinth” (though it follows a lovely poem on writing titled “Making a Chair”), which has all the makings of a good spooky tale: a magical spot on an ancient hill, a huge moon shining on an enigmatic guide and a narrator full of questions. The story is mysterious and atmospheric like many in this collection. One of the longest stories, “The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains,” is similarly dark and mythic in tone. It explores themes such as revenge and repentance, secrets and journeys. “Click-Clack the Rattlebag” plays on the usual fears, like big old houses with dark attics and legends of monsters, but delivers a clever ending with a twist.

“The Thing About Cassandra” is less of a traditionally scary story but is disturbing nevertheless as Gaiman gambits with perspective and reality. Is Cassandra just the imaginary girlfriend Stuart made up in high school to impress his friends, or is Stuart really a figment of Cassandra's teenage imagination? In stories like “Jerusalem” characters are swept up and away by adventure, doubt, curiosity or magic. Delores, visiting the holy city with her husband, is overwhelmed with a feeling of love and sacredness. Returning home to London, both Delores and Morrison realize they are called back to Jerusalem by a powerful emotional force. Readers will be particularly happy to read “Black Dog,” the only previously unpublished work in this collection. It is a companion story to Gaiman's novel, AMERICAN GODS, written specifically for this book.

TRIGGER WARNING is full of many kinds of danger: physical, metaphysical, emotional and threats to reason or logic. All the dangers are frightening, yet Gaiman's writing is utterly compelling. The characters are searching, yearning and wrestling with secrets, yet their perspectives are not always reliable, which contributes to the wonderful tension Gaiman builds. In the title itself, he lets us know that we will be challenged by these tales. Despite the variety of styles and plots in this collection, the questions asked of the characters and, for that matter, the reader share several themes and an overarching tone of mystery, darkness, frustration and compelling beauty.

Of course, as with any short fiction collection, some pieces are more powerful and successful than others. But Gaiman's skill is always apparent, and his creativity never fails to yield entertaining and thoughtful results. The introduction, where we learn his own thoughts on the stories and some of his ideas about writing in general, is just as fun to read as the rest of TRIGGER WARNING. This is a book to savor and enjoy, and it's perfect reading for the long cold days and nights of late winter.

Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.

Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman is a diverse, very highly recommended collection of short stories.

Gaiman says, "We are all wearing masks. That is what makes us interesting. These are stories about those masks, and the people we are underneath them."

The diversity and wide range of genres represented in these extremely well written short stories is what compels me to give Trigger Warning my highest recommendation. I thoroughly enjoyed this collection and have to say that I wanted more when it was done. Gaiman stories include such a wide variety of stories in various lengths that most readers should find several that appeal to them. I really thought this whole collection was extraordinary. The selections include stories about Sherlock Holmes, a Dr. Who story written for the 50th anniversary of the series in 2013, and an original tale that revisits the world of American Gods. In the introduction Gaiman includes a little back ground information on each story, if the reader is interested.

He tells us about his stories:
"There are things that upset us. That's not quite what we're talking about here, though. I'm thinking about those images or words or ideas that drop like trapdoors beneath us, throwing us out of our safe, sane world into a place much more dark and less welcoming. Our hearts skip a ratatat drumbeat in our chests, and we fight for breath. Blood retreats from our faces and our fingers, leaving us pale and gasping and shocked. And what we learn about ourselves in those moments, where the trigger has been squeezed, is this: the past is not dead. There are things that wait for us, patiently, in the dark corridors of our lives. We think we have moved on, put them out of mind, left them to desiccate and shrivel and blow away; but we are wrong. They have been waiting there in the darkness, working out, practicing their most vicious blows, their sharp hard thoughtless punches into the gut, killing time until we came back that way. The monsters in our cupboards and our minds."

CONTENTS
Introduction
Making a Chair
A Lunar Labyrinth
The Thing About Cassandra
Down to a Sunless Sea
The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains...
My Last Landlady
Adventure Story
ORANGE
A Calendar of Tales
The Case of Death and Honey
The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury
Jerusalem
Click-Clack the Rattlebag
An Invocation of Incuriosity
"And Weep, Like Alexander"
Nothing O'Clock
Pearls: A Fairy Tale
Kether to Malkuth
Feminine Endings
Observing the Formalities
The Sleeper and the Spindle
Witch Work
In Relig Odhrain
Black Dog

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of HarperCollins for review purposes.

I have to admit, I did not finish this book. I am not a fan of short stories. However, I did read more than half of this book before finally putting it down. I have to say, the last story, “Black Dog”, and “The Thing about Cassandra”, followed closely by “A Calendar of Tales”, were my favorites out of the ones I was able to get through.

“The Black Dog” was predictable, yet delightful. “The Thing about Cassandra”, on the other hand, took an unexpected twist. While this element was highlighted strongest in the juxtaposition of these two novels, Gaiman’s short stories kept me constantly guessing at whether they would end predictably, or remain unpredictable to the twisted end. Unfortunately, that’s also what lost my interest.

“A Calendar of Tales” was a strange compilation of seemingly random blurbs that may or may not have been interconnected in any way. Regardless, I found it’s simplicity delightful, and each short story within this short story left me wanting more.

Neil Gaiman is a popular author of many books. I’m sure you’ve heard of at least one of them (probably Coraline or The Graveyard Book). However, while I am a fan of many of his other novels, I don’t feel that this really achieved what it set out to do. I’d recommend picking up a different book or finding him at a Moth event when there’s one near you.

http://showthisbooksomelove.tumblr.com

I savored each of these stories with a few poems thrown in. What I like about short stories is that there is not too much commitment. You can read one or two a day and feel a little sense of accomplishment at the end of each one.

One of my favorites here was “The Thing About Cassandra”. I can’t really say what it was about without spoiling it, but I found the premise of this one really cool and think it would make for a great full length novel.

Another good one was “The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains”. This one was about revenge. I also really liked “My Last Landlady”, it was a too-short ghost story. This is not my first time reading this author and Gaiman’s writing tends to captivate me.

I found that a common theme in these stories was that things aren’t what they seem to be. If you take the time to look a little closer, you might see things that you hadn’t noticed before.

Overall, Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances is a nice collection of stories with a few poems thrown in. I recommend this one, especially if you enjoy fantasy and don’t mind being scared just a little bit.

I would say this is my very favorite book of short stories...and I have been a voracious reader for many decades. It starts out with one of the very few introductions worth the time of reading and it is wonderful from the first words. There is a description of something called the Shaders that at only 5 paragraphs will seduce you into reading it over and over. The stories are wonderful, especially if you love Dr. Who, and Sherlock Holmes. Upon the death of his brother Myford at only 54 years of age Sherlock is drawn to drop all else and solve the ultimate mystery...heady going here, and beautifully done. There is, along the way, a new Dr. Who episode and a wonderful tale of a Genii who struggles to get a wish accepted, and more. Wonderful and imaginative tales striking in both quality of writing and originality. It doesn't get much better!.

This collection of short stories turned out to be something of a mixed bag. Ranging in length from a couple of minutes to an hour and a half (I was listening rather than reading), some of the shorter ones are so fragmentary as to be rather pointless, while a couple of the longer ones feel too long for their content. However there are some excellent stories in here too and, as I'd been told by so many people, Gaiman is a wonderful narrator.

As a fairly new convert to Gaiman's work I was surprised to find that there are several stories in here that I had already come across elsewhere in other formats. This made me wonder how much new stuff there would be in the book for established fans, so it would probably be wise to check the contents list before purchasing.

There is a long introduction in which Gaiman explains the rationale for the collection. This may have been better if I'd been reading rather than listening, but on the audiobook it takes over an hour, most of which is made up of short introductions to each story explaining the inspiration for it. Some of these short introductions are as long as the stories themselves. I fear I clicked out of the introduction after 20 minutes - snippets of how a story came about because of something some bloke called Jimmy said down the pub one night failed to hold my attention. One of the drawbacks of audio is that it's not possible to scan read sections like this, as I would with a paper or e-book.

I found the first few stories quite disappointing to be honest. The title, cover and introduction had all led me to think that the stories would be dark and chilling, but a lot of them aren't. And while I think Gaiman does dark and chilling exceptionally well, I was less enamoured of his musing on the writing process by using a metaphor of making a chair, for example. I also found, and this is down to personal preference, that, of the stories I knew, I had on the whole preferred them in written format. Both Down to the Sunless Sea and The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains had worked brilliantly for me when I read them - the first as straight text and the second as a graphic novel - but didn't have quite the same effect when listening, mainly because, although Gaiman's narration was excellent, the voices didn't gel with the ones I'd heard in my head. However, where I hadn't read a story before, Click Clack The Rattle Bag, for instance, then the narration often worked superbly.

These three stories were still amongst my favourites in the collection though, and here are another few that I particularly enjoyed:

Adventure story - a son sits with his elderly mother having tea and discussing his father, now deceased. In the course of the conversation his mother reveals the story of an adventure his father once had long ago as a young man. The adventure becomes progressively more fantastical, and the appeal comes from the matter-of-fact way the mother tells it and the son's astonishment. Quite a short story this one, but cleverly done and enjoyable. I suspect the narration made this one work better than it would have on paper.

The Case of Death and Honey is a rather good spin on the Holmes stories, which provides an explanation for why the great man went off to keep bees at the end of his career. It's set in China with Holmes on the trail of the answer to the ultimate mystery, and while it is somewhat far-fetched it's well-written and interesting, and Gaiman's Holmes feels quite authentic. This is another one I had already come across elsewhere - in the Oxcrimes collection published last year.

Nothing O'Clock is a Doctor Who story and I found it thoroughly enjoyable. It fits perfectly into the Doctor Who style and Gaiman's narration of the many characters gives a unique voice to each. The story is imaginative and nicely chilling, but of course with the traditional happy ending we expect the Doctor to provide.

So quite a lot of good things in here overall, but also some that I found rather dull or a bit lightweight. A mixed bag - I'd say most readers will find some things to like in the collection but, like me, may also find there's quite a lot that leaves them a little underwhelmed. 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.

NB This audiobook was provided for review by the publisher, Audible UK.

It’s hard to find an author which can be really called magical, but Neil Gaiman certainly manages to deserve the label. His fiction has a knack for creativity and resourcefulness which few authors can equal, and one can hardly know what to expect when starting to read his fiction. Everything is fertile with gods, monsters, aliens, and many others, and you just don’t know what is prepared for you in the next page.

This is certainly the case with ‘Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances,’ a collection of short stories and poems. These vary wildly between them, featuring all kinds of different characters and plots, and range from twisted fairy tales to a haunting look at the old age of Sherlock Holmes reflecting on the decay of the British Empire. All whilst sharing a sense of magic and wonder with an elegant and beautiful prose. However, there is no obvious pattern between them, no overall theme linking them together and restricting their imagination, making this title work wonderfully.

In this collection, Gaiman leaps from the macabre to the whimsical and then the weird with ease. No matter how normal the setting something which was hidden from us always ends up being revealed, and it draws you in from the moment you start reading. This is definitely one of the best aspects of Trigger Warning, and one of the things I found myself really enjoying. It presents not only the outright weird but also the simplest scenarios as such as well.

The writing in this book is no less versatile, and changes to fit every story in unexpected yet incredibly fitting ways (such is the case of a story told through a questionnaire). It is clever and clear, all whilst remaining at recognizably his at the same time. It heightens the beauty of the short stories and makes them even more of a pleasure to read. Gaiman is a master at his craft, and Trigger Warning is as immersive and sublime as one expects whilst remaining easy to read.

As such I highly recommend ‘Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances’ to any reader and fans of Gaiman. Its format is beautiful in its simplicity and unintimidating, and due to this works well as an additional introduction to his work for those who have yet to read him. Everything that makes him a master at the craft is on full display here, and with the range of short pieces and their multitude of themes it is hard if not impossible to be left unsatisfied by this book.

I received a preview copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This Neil Gaiman short story collection is about what you would expect if you’ve read a Neil Gaiman short story collection before. I really liked the Sherlock Holmes story The Case of Death and Honey, and of course it’s always fun to check in on Shadow Moon again, but the other stories were hit or miss for me. The Sleeper and the Spindle is a particular gem, albeit one I had read before as a standalone publication, but there's a lot of other stories included in this book that just feel like the author is spinning his wheels.

I’m also disgruntled at the title of the collection and its explanation in the book’s introduction – it feels both appropriative and mocking, as though Gaiman is claiming a phrase he clearly doesn’t see a need for but just finds fascinating when others use it. Idk. Your mileage may vary, but I’ve definitely found myself growing out of Neil Gaiman the older I get, and his explanation of why he named this book Trigger Warning really rubbed me the wrong way.

After reading some of the other reviews for this collection of short stories and poems, this may not have been the ideal choice for me to make to get acquainted with Gaiman's writing. Some of his self-proclaimed "biggest fans" weren't impressed with it, but what do I know? I had no points of comparison, so I enjoyed it.

Without doubt, this writer has skills and imagination out the wazoo, and he isn't afraid to dive into a variety of genres. Like most collections, some of these stories were better than others, but as a whole, I definitely enjoyed the book well enough to read more of his work.

One minor thing bugged me about this book, though, and I know it's nit-picking, but commas seemed to be sprinkled haphazardly into the text where no comma was needed. I mean REALLY not needed. Whether this was something done by the editors or if it was an "experimental" aspect of Mr. Gaiman's writing, it didn't work for me.

Four to four and a half stars.

Neil Gaiman could write an instruction manual for an IKEA bookcase and I'd probably love it. But that said, this was everything I hoped it would be. Gaiman has a delicious way of utilizing language and expectation to create truly disturbing, thought-provoking, and unique things. This anthology contains both short stories (of varying length) and poetry. Some are familiar, some are new (to me, anyway). Some were disturbing, some were amusing, all were entertaining and a joy to read.

I've found it rare to encounter an author who is as good with full-length novels as short stories, considering the very different styles each requires. But Gaiman's masterful art of wordplay really supports his talent with these short stories. Each one has a 'how it came to be' story in the prologue, which was fascinating. Of all of them, The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury was the most deeply personal. Not creepy at all, but it felt like reading my own inner self (only, more poetic). I don't know that I've ever read something so intimate it felt like I wrote it, before. And I can't help thinking I would LOVE to hear Neil read it- what luck, he narrates the audiobook version of Trigger Warning! Also: there was not a single story or poem in here that was forgettable or 'meh'.

Whether you like classic horror, or Doctor Who, or fairytale retellings, or novellas tied into longer works of fiction, or dark fantasy, or poetry, or folktales, or musings, there will be something in here for you. Probably multiple somethings. I highly recommend this collection.

This collection of twenty-five short stories, some no more than a few pages long, others far more substantial, offers a variety of meditations on the relationship between life, death, time and existence.

Such themes might sound philosophical, but Neil Gaiman has the ability to hold the readers' attention through an accessible, yet colorful style. He is fond of sentences constructed through multiple subordinate clauses - not only to create mood, but to keep readers waiting to learn what the dénouement of each tale might be.

Inevitably with such a diverse collection, some tales are going to appeal to individual readers more than others. I enjoyed "Making a Chair," which draws an analogy between the writing process and the more practical aspects of furniture making. Ordinarily we might consider the two arts very different from one another, but Gaiman is interested in the ways in which both engage the attention as well as the imagination.

"The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains ..." is a quest-narrative in which the central character embarks on a search for gold. Gaiman creates a dark, almost surreal atmosphere that makes us realize that he is as much journeying into the imagination as well as describing the physical world. Perhaps the two are indissoluble. "Orange" is constructed in the form of a questionnaire where a teenage girl talks about her sister's penchant for tanning, an obsession that goes horribly wrong. We are invited to reflect on what separates humanity from other creatures within the cosmos. "The Case of Death and Honey" reworks the Sherlock Holmes tale, with Mycroft suffering an early death and Sherlock going off to study honey in the wilds of central Asia. "The Man who Forgot Ray Bradbury" pays tribute to the great American science fiction writer, whose word could be forgotten except for the seminal FAHRENHEIT 451.

Sometimes the collection can be wryly funny, poking fun at contemporary cultures' obsession with materialism. "And Weep, Like Alexander" profiles the life of an un-inventor, whose sole duty consists of unmaking some of the technological innovations for the benefit of humankind. As we read his narrative, we wonder whether the entire approach to inventing something is really as useful as it is often cracked up to be. "Diamonds and Pearls; A Fairy Tale" uses the fabliau format to make a comment on the ethics (or lack thereof) of drug-taking.

Perhaps the pick of the collection is the last tale "Black Dog," a deliberate and conscious reference to the depressive state that blighted Winston Churchill's life. An American visitor spends time in a typical British village, and becomes involved in a complicated tale involving ghosts, predatory animals, depression and jealousy. Through the apparently horrific structure Gaiman makes us aware of the power of the imagination to affect people's lives, whether positively or negatively.

Definitely a dipping-book rather than one to be read from cover to cover: the best of these tales are classic examples of psychological horror.

I don't like doing this. I can't believe I'm going to do this. NO fingers! NO! Don't do it!... I have to though...here it is:

I didn't love this collection.

I didn't, and I'm so ashamed.

Neil Gaiman is my whole, whole literary-loving heart, and the fact that I didn't love his last major publication either (The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Review), has this heart breaking. I won't be reviewing each story on it's own, because, to be honest, I tended to skip the ones I wasn't enjoying.

Trigger Warning began with the most fantastic intro, and the anticipation of such wonderful things to come. I was promised disturbing tales, and cautioned to read at my own risk. What I went on to read were interesting stories, at best, but definitely not anything that gave me serious shivers, or pangs of an uncomfortable nature. My favourites were: Lunar Labyrinth, The Thing About Cassandra, The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains, A Calendar of Tales, and Click-Clack the Rattlebug. For me, those were the types of storylines that I had anticipated: odd, quirky, creepy, and memorable. The others, I could have done without-they were drawn out, and way too convoluted for my taste.

The silver lining of this collection, however, is that if you go into it thinking you're only getting the typical Gaiman-esque wonder and fantastical notions, you're going to be pleasantly surprised at the other genres he tries his hand at. There is homage paid to the likes of a one Mr. Sherlock Holmes, as well as everyone's favourite Doctor.

Sadly, I am a forever fan of Mr. Gaiman's fantasy/paranormal work, so this one just didn't work for me as a whole.

Recommended for Fans of: Fantasy, Paranormal, Horror, Science Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Terry Prachett, Douglas Adams, Doctor Who, Sherlock Holmes.

Read from March 15 to 17, 2016

Is it a sufficient enough review to say Neil Gaiman is a genius? No? Didn't think so.

He is, by the way. At least to my way of thinking. He writes the kind of short stories I love: stories that are odd and creepy and disturbing and off-kilter. Is it too much to say I consider him the man who now sits on Ray Bradbury's throne? No, it isn't. That's a fair non-hyperbolic assessment.

The stories in this collection are mainly reprints gathered from various anthologies published over the past few years, with one brand new story in which we revisit the world of American Gods. I had read only one of them before; fittingly, that was "The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury" from Shadow Show: All-New Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury, a collection that I encourage everyone to read right flippin' now. Well, you can wait until after you read Trigger Warning. But I digress.

Yeah. This book. It's mostly short stories, with some bits of poetry intermingled here and there. Like all anthologies, some tales resonated more than others, but there isn't a clunker to be found. Here are a few of my favorites:

"The Thing About Cassandra" explores the ramifications of telling your friends about your imaginary girlfriend.

"The Truth Is A Cave In The Black Mountains" is all about consequences of past actions.

"Nothing O'Clock", a story of the 11th Doctor and Amy Pond and a monster hidden inside Time.

"The Return of the Thin White Duke", about a monster in search of a heart.

And several others. But the stories I loved won't necessarily be the stories you love. You should have the joy of discovering them yourself. So go out and do that. Right now.

Thank you to LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program for the opportunity to read this book.

Trigger Warning is a collection of short pieces by Gaiman that have been published elsewhere with the exception of one of the stories - a brand new American Gods piece. To begin my review, that besides the fact that I have already read half of these (and which can be found online and in other books that I own), the book contains many beautiful stories and poems.

I had already read (and loved)...
The Thing About Cassandra
The Truth is a Cave (without the illustrations - find my review!)
My Last Landlady
Orange
The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury
A Calendar of Tales (fun gimmick - enjoyed reading them as they were released with the videos on Amex)

The following were new to me and I really enjoyed them...
The Case of Death and Honey (awesome!)
The Sleeper and the Spindle (awesome!)
Black Dogs

The strength of these stories is Gaiman's beautiful prose and unflinching ability to find the danger and magic behind the sheerest fabric of reality. Reading many of these again in the new format did highlight the beauty of the execution of his words - most notably that when I originally read the Calendar of Tales, they were was bookended with advertisements for Amex, and while I loved 'truth is a cave' as a story, I thought that the execution in the illustrated book version was just awful and the terrible execution discounted the beauty of the prose.

Regardless, in his introduction, Gaiman mentioned the fact that short story collections are only rarely presented because they are a financially losing proposition, and also a vanity project by the authors that are publishing them. With Gaiman's success, he doesn't need to worry about either, and it appears that there is something special about this collection that takes the work out of the contexts that they were originally presented. In some of the cases, this is actually doing the work itself credit - more credit than the original context of their appearance. These stories are expert in execution, color, and imagery, and Gaiman is a master of taking us into his universe and getting us to believe the tales he weaves. His voice is unmistakable, comforting, and whimsical, and in his shorter pieces between this and Sandman (of course, I mean his single issues rather than the entirety of the collection) is where he really shines.

Perhaps my favorite - as a Holmes aficionado and fellow beekeeper (just like Holmes and Gaiman), The Case of Death and Honey was incredible. There is really nothing like a well-written (in both plot and style) contemporary Holmes fanfic (right?). Gaiman delivers, and I would absolutely love to see him take on a Holmes novel if he has it in him.

I also loved the new twist in The Sleeper and the Spindle, which I will try not to spoil here but contains a surprisingly beautiful ending that is coming out at just the right time.

Besides my favorites, I will say that the entire book is just plain entertaining and beautiful.

Now, even though I am a writer and think that he deserves money for his art, one can find most of this material on the internet in free, legal, legitimate ways. I am sure he wouldn't put up a fight if I were to suggest that instead of buying the book one were to take it out of the library or read the pieces in their original forms and donate the proceeds to Gaiman's CBLDF. I know it is a side note, but when an author releases previously released material in a format such as this - where the abundance of his work is easy to find and accessible online legally and free (unlike, say, The Tenth of December and some of the more locked-down or obscure literary journals those stories appeared in), I would have felt ripped off if I purchased this book and hadn't taken it out of the library to read since I had already read about half of this material when it was first released in those formats. So my method was to take it out of the library and donate $15 to CBLDF (figuring that is more than the 50% retail markup for the book), wrote this positive review, and called us even.

If I was reading these for the first time, though, I would be amazed and astonished. Gaiman is a master, and always a pleasure to read,

: I’m pretty much never disappointed in a Neil Gaiman short story collection. Occasionally, there will be a poem or two included that just don’t resonate with me (largely because I’m overall just not a poetry fan, as hard as I’ve tried to become one). More rarely, there will be a story in the collection which doesn’t satisfy me or intrigue me as much as the rest of the book. But those rare occasions don’t diminish my enjoyment of the collection as a whole. Trigger Warning is no exception to this pattern. 95% of the book’s contents connected with me on some level, and the few pieces that didn’t are because of my own personal tastes and not at all because of shoddy craftwork on the author’s part.
Story length in this collection runs from the very short (the individual pieces that comprise “A Calendar of Tales” are almost all flash fiction) through novellas (“Black Dog”), and Gaiman is a master of them all. Tonally, the stories run from wistfully nostalgic through comedic, each with its own voice. Along the way Gaiman capably tweaks and conflates classic fairy tales (“The Sleeper and the Spindle,” and several of the poems), gives voice to famous literary characters (expertly capturing the well-recorded wordplay of Matt Smith’s Doctor Who and the written voice of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes), pays tribute to his influences (classic pulp adventure stories and Ray Bradbury) and advances the narrative of one of his own creations, (Shadow from American Gods).
Let’s face it. If you’re already a Neil Gaiman fan, you don’t need my review to convince you to pick this book up. If you’re not a Gaiman fan, though – this is a pretty darned good place to start, to get a sense of just how wide-ranging his work is: science fiction, fantasy, horror, nostalgia; first-, second-, and third-person narration; poetry and prose. Literally something for everyone.
My individual story reviews can be found at these links:
http://365shortstories.livejournal.com/141252.html

http://365shortstories.livejournal.com/141417.html

http://365shortstories.livejournal.com/141602.html

http://365shortstories.livejournal.com/141961.html

Title: Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances

Author: Neil Gaiman

Age Group: Adult

Genre: Literary Collection

Series: N/A

Star Rating: I rated each piece individually, but overall, this memorable collection is well worth having.

This book was given to me by the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I love Neil Gaiman. Always have, always will. No matter what, I can always count on his work to inspire me and stir my imagination. It's a little scary how Gaiman weaves stories--it's damn near effortless, as a matter of fact. (Or, at least, it seems that way! Lol.) The only one of his novels I've read is Coraline, but after this luminous collection, I think it's pretty safe to say that I'll be looking for more of his work, as soon as humanly possible!

I like to give two ratings to a literary collection: one for each individual piece of the collection, and one for the actual collection itself. I'd say overall, this is a very good collection to have for any Neil Gaiman fan, or even for those who don't know his work every well. It's a well-rounded book: there are stories and poems for every taste, but it's all done with his dark, playful signature.

Making the Chair, 5 out of 5 Stars. A fun, mysterious poem about writing, creativity, and making chairs. A perfect poem to set the tone for the rest of the collection.

The Lunar Labyrinth, 4 out of 5 Stars. A darkly chilling tale of moon people, and the labyrinth they burned down, this story was intriguing and frightening, creepy and enjoyable.

The Thing About Cassandra, 4 out of 5 Stars. A twisty, odd story of two friends who seemed to have made each other up, this story was fun because of the romantic relationship. Very fun and sweet.

Down to a Sunless Sea, 5 out of 5 Stars. Easily my favorite story of the volume so far, a darkly chilling story of a son lost at sea and ended by his crew, as told by his grief stricken mother. Amazing! Pulled off with Neil Gaiman's signature flair.

"The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains", 4.5 out of 5 Stars. This story had a distinct fairy tale feel. I loved it. A dwarf and an old man journey to the mountains of The Isle of Skye in the hopes of returning home wealthy. What ensues instead is a fight for survival, and quite possibly an encounter with an evil spirit. Another contender for the best story in the volume.

My Last Landlady, 4 out of 5 Stars. This short story was kind of weird. A murderous, cantankerous old lady finds good company in the narrator, at a terrible price. Kind of strange, but like all of Gaiman's stories, well worth the read.

Adventure, 2 out of 5 Stars. A mother and son have clearly different definitions of the word adventure. I had high expectations for this one, but it just didn't jump off the page enough for me.
Orange, 5 out of 5 Stars. An oddly intriguing little story about a family, aliens, and naturally, the color orange. This story was unique in that it was told in list format, in the form of answered questions. Highly enjoyable.

A Calendar of Tales, 5 out of 5 Stars. A miniature collection of tales within this book, one for every month of the year, are all teasing little snippets of stories, varied, but all beautiful and full of skill. Yet another favorite story! I love this book so far!

The Case of Death and Honey, 4.5 out of 5 Stars. Gaiman takes on a familiar character in literature: Sherlock Holmes! An exciting, wry tale involving bees and China, Baker Street and honey. An old man goes to a mountainside and learns how to keep bees, and maybe discover the secret of youth. This piece was fun in a classical kind of way. A worthy homage to one of the fathers of crime literature.

The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury, A warm and tender homage to the titan of science fiction, this story completely warmed me to Bradbury's fiction. (Yay for Fahrenheit 451! Lol.) A scary mediation on old age and memories, this one is lovely, a true valentine to the father of the science fiction genre. 5 out of 5 Stars.

Jerusalem, 3 out of 5 Stars. I didn't really get this one. Morrison and his wife, Delores, go to Jerusalem, where a 'city specific' illness takes Delores, and maybe they find God, and their faith? I liked the ageless wonder of the ancient city, but it was muddled and confusing.

Click-Clack the Rattlebag, 4 out of 5 Stars. A creepy story of darkness and monsters, I expected more from this one. A boyfriend and his girlfriend's brother bond over a dark night in a drafty house, but the attic hides mysterious creatures that may have a craving for human flesh. The ending was my favorite part of this one.

An Invocation of Incuriousity, 1 out of 5 Stars. This story was confusing, I didn't really get it, or what was going on. A man called Farfal the Unfortunate goes on a journey to a new world-ours-out of the nothingness of his own empty universe. A valiant story, but it just wasn't for me.

Weep, Like Alexander, 3.5 Out of 5 Stars. An uninventor makes quite the ruckus at a local pub, recounting the achievements of his life and career as an uninventor. It's literally just as it sounds: he unravels the fabric of creation, from its first spark in the mind. Odd, but definitely funny, and engaging.

Nothing O'Clock, 4.5 Out of 5 Stars. Doctor Who: Who isn't a fan this days? (ha.) Gaiman weaves a story straight out of Matt Smith's season, where the lovable 11th Doctor and his sassy companion, Amy Pond, fight to save Earth from the deadly Kin, who seek the destruction of all of humanity. A little weird, and kooky, but I loved the way Gaiman played with the tone of this story.

Pearls: A Fairy Tale, 5 out of 5 Stars. Fairy tales are like literary crack to me. And this one is just wonderful, full of allusions to classic ones, with just a hint of darkness and terror. The ending was frightening and mysterious. Gaiman has the ability to marry beautiful prose with engaging premises and vivid imagery. This story was highly enjoyable.

Kether to Malkuth, 4 Out of 5 Stars. A story about a duke that has everything, this strange narrative bends the laws of time and space, leading the duke to venture towards getting a heart. Once there, he faces what he truly wants for the first time. I enjoyed the style of it, but it was a bit hard to follow.

Feminine Endings, 5 out of 5 Stars. A tender, pining love letter from a statue to the love of her life. I really enjoyed the point of view of this, as well as the sweet, but almost intrusive, intimacy the lovelorn narrator provides. The story fits its title, and I greatly enjoyed it.

Observing the Formalities, 2 out of 5 Stars. An odd little piece, narrated by someone with a clear love of manners and perfection.. To the point where she is completely alone. I didn't really get this piece either.

The Sleeper and the Spindle, 5 out of 5 Stars. My first time reading this was in Rags and Bones: Twists on Timeless Tales. (With the gorgeous illustration as well!) A fun, darkly playful rill on two beloved fairy tales, a queen breaks an ancient curse with a price that could be too high to pay. One of my favorite Neil Gaiman yarns, if not the favorite!

Witch Work, 5 out of 5 Stars. I've grown to love Neil Gaiman's poetry as much as his fiction. A rhyming, rhythmic poem about an old witch who hid her life in a books, casting and binding spells, no company but clocks. I really liked the tone and flow of this one; it was a fantastic little tidbit.

In Relig Odhrain, 2 out of 5 Stars. The closing piece of the collection, this odd little poem tells the origin of two saints, one evil, and the other, something not quite from this realm. I didn't really get it, it was kind of weird.

My only complaint was that this collection didn't have Black Dog, and I thought that was included. But nonetheless, I really enjoyed this beautiful collection of stories. I'm so happy to have been able to read it. Next on deck: Vanished by E.E. Cooper!

For the reader in need of a Neil Gaiman fix, this collection of poetry and short stories satisfies nicely. There are 24 submissions in all, varying widely in length from two pages of poetry to novellas, both excellent, set in the worlds of Dr. Who and the American Gods. Some insight into each offering is given by the author in the Introduction, and while quality is uniformly high, there are entries that still manage to stand out. For me, most notable were Orange, composed solely of responses given to inferred questions from an investigator, and Click-Clack the Rattlebag, the best short horror story I've read since Lavinia and Francine try to avoid The Lonely One in Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine - masterful. If you're a Gaiman fan, won't it be fun to see which stories you connect with?

This was bought for me by my wonderful fiancé when I accidentally left my Kindle charging on the floor of our apartment instead of taking it with me on my flight to California for Thanksgiving. This was actually the perfect book to have with me on vacation, since I could sit down just for a little bit in between festivities, completely finish a story and have some satisfaction from reading, and then continue with celebrating.

Overall, I tend to be wary of getting collections of short stories. For me, they’re too often hit-and-miss to be worthwhile, but this is a Gaiman book, so I decided to give it a try. (Also, Andrew loves short stories, so this would have been a worth-it purchase anyway.) I would say that I thoroughly enjoyed about 85% of the stories, mostly enjoyed 10% and the other 5% was a varying mix of meh or not-my-thing. For me, that makes this collection absolutely worth a purchase and most definitely worth the time spent reading it.

Unfortunately, these are also hard to review, because there’s no way I’m going to go into detail about every single story. I will say that this title holds true. Every single story had some element to it that creeped me out or hit a nerve at least once — many did so more than once.

I was especially happy to see a Doctor Who and a Sherlock Holmes story thrown in here. The Sherlock Holmes story was definitely one of my favorites in this collection. “Adventure Story” was by far my favorite of this book, so I recommend taking a look at that one as well. I’m waiting for Andrew to get some free time to read it so that I can relive the experience of the stories by talking about it with him, but for now, I’ll have to settle for talking about through this and others’ reviews. ;P

With his third collection of short fiction, Neil Gaiman presents us with stories, verse, and even a 50th anniversary Doctor Who story, all previously published (please note that Black Dog, the one story exclusive to the collection, was not included in the ARC).

Having only read him in novel or graphic novel form, Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances was my first introduction to Gaiman's short fiction. It was an interesting read, largely entertaining, and even if there was a long, deep stretch of works in the middle that just didn't grab my attention, there were more than enough strong entries to book-end that gap.

Rather than review every tale in the collection, I thought I'd just offer my observations on those that worked best for me:

The Thing About Cassandra was most definitely an early highlight, and even if I saw the twist coming a few pages early, it was still a great story.

Down to a Sunless Sea was one of the shorter tales here, but powerful in the depths of its sorrow. The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains . . . was absolutely fantastic, with the stunning image of a girl perhaps too-tightly bound by her ponytail, and marked by the cleverness of a promise. Adventure Story was too short, but unexpectedly comic, while Orange was odd, oddly told, and oddly compelling.

Click-­Clack the Rattlebag was really just a tease, ending just as we get to the meat of it, but I quite liked the monstrous concepts of the Click-Clack and the Rattlebag. An Invocation of Incuriosity was a great story within a story, full of myth and fable, while “And Weep, Like Alexander” was a fun story about un-inventing and the unintended consequences of progress. Nothing O’Clock, the Doctor Who story, was one of my favorites, taking as its inspiration the simple question of "What time is it, Mr. Wolf?" and making of it something perfectly creepy, properly Who-amusing, and entirely unsettling in its resolution.

Pearls: A Fairy Tale was just that - a faery tale - but a contemporary one of drugs, dogs, hookers, stepmothers, and magic, that I quite enjoyed. Kether to Malkuth and The Sleeper and the Spindle both continued the classic faery tale theme, but in a more familiar setting . . . even if Gaiman puts a few unexpected twists on the traditional tropes.

Introductions are always a tricky thing when it comes to a collection, and you wonder/worry about how much the author might give away, but I think it fits here as an intro (rather than an appendix). Gaiman really sets the stage for each tale, telling us less about them and more about how they came about. They allowed me to appreciate some stories (such as A Calendar of Tales), even if I didn't enjoy them, and really served to expose his inspirations. All in all, Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances is a solid collection, despite the dry spot in the center, and perfect for those of who don't follow his short fiction obsessively.

Acclaimed author Neil Gaiman introduces this collection by confessing it doesn't stand up to his own test: that a collection should consist of works meant to go together, not just a hodgepodge of writing. Mr. Gaiman more than sells himself short with this confession. Yes, it's true that the first piece is seemingly a throwaway prose poem about writing. A foolish reader would stop here and deem the book an unworthy read. However, Gaiman quickly redeems himself with the (of course unrelated) combination of "Lunar Labyrinth" and "The Thing About Cassandra." It's immediately apparent that Gaiman was telling the truth in that introduction. We aren't going to see a common theme in this book (other than great writing, of course). Rather, we're going to get a little bit of everything, and it's a huge reward.

Gaiman shows in this collection that he's capable of it all. From humor to the absurd to the utterly fantastic to the downright traditional, Gaiman churns out story after story of engaging plots and characters, yanking the reader along for a satisfying (if not confusing) ride.

At times, this reads like a collection of demos or outtakes. Some of these pieces will have you thinking, "How could such a great writer produce this?" However, the amount of fluff and filler you have to sift through to get to the good stuff is far from a monumental task. Gaiman provides plenty of hits in this collection (although some stories do feel like false starts).

My personal favorites are "The Thing About Cassandra," "Click-Clack the Rattlebag," "The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury," and "And Weep, Like Alexander," the last of which is surely one of the most amusing and thought-provoking stories of this century. Sure, not everything in here is a gem, but it's a fine hodgepodge of writing. Don't say Mr. Gaiman didn't warn you.

Title: Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances

Author: Neil Gaiman

Age Group: Adult

Genre: Literary Collection

Series: N/A

Star Rating: I rated each piece individually, but overall, this memorable collection is well worth having.

This book was given to me by the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

I love Neil Gaiman. Always have, always will. No matter what, I can always count on his work to inspire me and stir my imagination. It's a little scary how Gaiman weaves stories--it's damn near effortless, as a matter of fact. (Or, at least, it seems that way! Lol.) The only one of his novels I've read is Coraline, but after this luminous collection, I think it's pretty safe to say that I'll be looking for more of his work, as soon as humanly possible!

I like to give two ratings to a literary collection: one for each individual piece of the collection, and one for the actual collection itself. I'd say overall, this is a very good collection to have for any Neil Gaiman fan, or even for those who don't know his work every well. It's a well-rounded book: there are stories and poems for every taste, but it's all done with his dark, playful signature.

Making the Chair, 5 out of 5 Stars. A fun, mysterious poem about writing, creativity, and making chairs. A perfect poem to set the tone for the rest of the collection.

The Lunar Labyrinth, 4 out of 5 Stars. A darkly chilling tale of moon people, and the labyrinth they burned down, this story was intriguing and frightening, creepy and enjoyable.

The Thing About Cassandra, 4 out of 5 Stars. A twisty, odd story of two friends who seemed to have made each other up, this story was fun because of the romantic relationship. Very fun and sweet.

Down to a Sunless Sea, 5 out of 5 Stars. Easily my favorite story of the volume so far, a darkly chilling story of a son lost at sea and ended by his crew, as told by his grief stricken mother. Amazing! Pulled off with Neil Gaiman's signature flair.

"The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains", 4.5 out of 5 Stars. This story had a distinct fairy tale feel. I loved it. A dwarf and an old man journey to the mountains of The Isle of Skye in the hopes of returning home wealthy. What ensues instead is a fight for survival, and quite possibly an encounter with an evil spirit. Another contender for the best story in the volume.

My Last Landlady, 4 out of 5 Stars. This short story was kind of weird. A murderous, cantankerous old lady finds good company in the narrator, at a terrible price. Kind of strange, but like all of Gaiman's stories, well worth the read.

Adventure, 2 out of 5 Stars. A mother and son have clearly different definitions of the word adventure. I had high expectations for this one, but it just didn't jump off the page enough for me.
Orange, 5 out of 5 Stars. An oddly intriguing little story about a family, aliens, and naturally, the color orange. This story was unique in that it was told in list format, in the form of answered questions. Highly enjoyable.

A Calendar of Tales, 5 out of 5 Stars. A miniature collection of tales within this book, one for every month of the year, are all teasing little snippets of stories, varied, but all beautiful and full of skill. Yet another favorite story! I love this book so far!

The Case of Death and Honey, 4.5 out of 5 Stars. Gaiman takes on a familiar character in literature: Sherlock Holmes! An exciting, wry tale involving bees and China, Baker Street and honey. An old man goes to a mountainside and learns how to keep bees, and maybe discover the secret of youth. This piece was fun in a classical kind of way. A worthy homage to one of the fathers of crime literature.

The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury, A warm and tender homage to the titan of science fiction, this story completely warmed me to Bradbury's fiction. (Yay for Fahrenheit 451! Lol.) A scary mediation on old age and memories, this one is lovely, a true valentine to the father of the science fiction genre. 5 out of 5 Stars.

Jerusalem, 3 out of 5 Stars. I didn't really get this one. Morrison and his wife, Delores, go to Jerusalem, where a 'city specific' illness takes Delores, and maybe they find God, and their faith? I liked the ageless wonder of the ancient city, but it was muddled and confusing.

Click-Clack the Rattlebag, 4 out of 5 Stars. A creepy story of darkness and monsters, I expected more from this one. A boyfriend and his girlfriend's brother bond over a dark night in a drafty house, but the attic hides mysterious creatures that may have a craving for human flesh. The ending was my favorite part of this one.

An Invocation of Incuriousity, 1 out of 5 Stars. This story was confusing, I didn't really get it, or what was going on. A man called Farfal the Unfortunate goes on a journey to a new world-ours-out of the nothingness of his own empty universe. A valiant story, but it just wasn't for me.

Weep, Like Alexander, 3.5 Out of 5 Stars. An uninventor makes quite the ruckus at a local pub, recounting the achievements of his life and career as an uninventor. It's literally just as it sounds: he unravels the fabric of creation, from its first spark in the mind. Odd, but definitely funny, and engaging.

Nothing O'Clock, 4.5 Out of 5 Stars. Doctor Who: Who isn't a fan this days? (ha.) Gaiman weaves a story straight out of Matt Smith's season, where the lovable 11th Doctor and his sassy companion, Amy Pond, fight to save Earth from the deadly Kin, who seek the destruction of all of humanity. A little weird, and kooky, but I loved the way Gaiman played with the tone of this story.

Pearls: A Fairy Tale, 5 out of 5 Stars. Fairy tales are like literary crack to me. And this one is just wonderful, full of allusions to classic ones, with just a hint of darkness and terror. The ending was frightening and mysterious. Gaiman has the ability to marry beautiful prose with engaging premises and vivid imagery. This story was highly enjoyable.

Kether to Malkuth, 4 Out of 5 Stars. A story about a duke that has everything, this strange narrative bends the laws of time and space, leading the duke to venture towards getting a heart. Once there, he faces what he truly wants for the first time. I enjoyed the style of it, but it was a bit hard to follow.

Feminine Endings, 5 out of 5 Stars. A tender, pining love letter from a statue to the love of her life. I really enjoyed the point of view of this, as well as the sweet, but almost intrusive, intimacy the lovelorn narrator provides. The story fits its title, and I greatly enjoyed it.

Observing the Formalities, 2 out of 5 Stars. An odd little piece, narrated by someone with a clear love of manners and perfection.. To the point where she is completely alone. I didn't really get this piece either.

The Sleeper and the Spindle, 5 out of 5 Stars. My first time reading this was in Rags and Bones: Twists on Timeless Tales. (With the gorgeous illustration as well!) A fun, darkly playful rill on two beloved fairy tales, a queen breaks an ancient curse with a price that could be too high to pay. One of my favorite Neil Gaiman yarns, if not the favorite!

Witch Work, 5 out of 5 Stars. I've grown to love Neil Gaiman's poetry as much as his fiction. A rhyming, rhythmic poem about an old witch who hid her life in a books, casting and binding spells, no company but clocks. I really liked the tone and flow of this one; it was a fantastic little tidbit.

In Relig Odhrain, 2 out of 5 Stars. The closing piece of the collection, this odd little poem tells the origin of two saints, one evil, and the other, something not quite from this realm. I didn't really get it, it was kind of weird.

My only complaint was that this collection didn't have Black Dog, and I thought that was included. But nonetheless, I really enjoyed this beautiful collection of stories. I'm so happy to have been able to read it. Next on deck: Vanished by E.E. Cooper!

For the reader in need of a Neil Gaiman fix, this collection of poetry and short stories satisfies nicely. There are 24 submissions in all, varying widely in length from two pages of poetry to novellas, both excellent, set in the worlds of Dr. Who and the American Gods. Some insight into each offering is given by the author in the Introduction, and while quality is uniformly high, there are entries that still manage to stand out. For me, most notable were Orange, composed solely of responses given to inferred questions from an investigator, and Click-Clack the Rattlebag, the best short horror story I've read since Lavinia and Francine try to avoid The Lonely One in Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine - masterful. If you're a Gaiman fan, won't it be fun to see which stories you connect with?

This was bought for me by my wonderful fiancé when I accidentally left my Kindle charging on the floor of our apartment instead of taking it with me on my flight to California for Thanksgiving. This was actually the perfect book to have with me on vacation, since I could sit down just for a little bit in between festivities, completely finish a story and have some satisfaction from reading, and then continue with celebrating.

Overall, I tend to be wary of getting collections of short stories. For me, they’re too often hit-and-miss to be worthwhile, but this is a Gaiman book, so I decided to give it a try. (Also, Andrew loves short stories, so this would have been a worth-it purchase anyway.) I would say that I thoroughly enjoyed about 85% of the stories, mostly enjoyed 10% and the other 5% was a varying mix of meh or not-my-thing. For me, that makes this collection absolutely worth a purchase and most definitely worth the time spent reading it.

Unfortunately, these are also hard to review, because there’s no way I’m going to go into detail about every single story. I will say that this title holds true. Every single story had some element to it that creeped me out or hit a nerve at least once — many did so more than once.

I was especially happy to see a Doctor Who and a Sherlock Holmes story thrown in here. The Sherlock Holmes story was definitely one of my favorites in this collection. “Adventure Story” was by far my favorite of this book, so I recommend taking a look at that one as well. I’m waiting for Andrew to get some free time to read it so that I can relive the experience of the stories by talking about it with him, but for now, I’ll have to settle for talking about through this and others’ reviews. ;P

With his third collection of short fiction, Neil Gaiman presents us with stories, verse, and even a 50th anniversary Doctor Who story, all previously published (please note that Black Dog, the one story exclusive to the collection, was not included in the ARC).

Having only read him in novel or graphic novel form, Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances was my first introduction to Gaiman's short fiction. It was an interesting read, largely entertaining, and even if there was a long, deep stretch of works in the middle that just didn't grab my attention, there were more than enough strong entries to book-end that gap.

Rather than review every tale in the collection, I thought I'd just offer my observations on those that worked best for me:

The Thing About Cassandra was most definitely an early highlight, and even if I saw the twist coming a few pages early, it was still a great story.

Down to a Sunless Sea was one of the shorter tales here, but powerful in the depths of its sorrow. The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains . . . was absolutely fantastic, with the stunning image of a girl perhaps too-tightly bound by her ponytail, and marked by the cleverness of a promise. Adventure Story was too short, but unexpectedly comic, while Orange was odd, oddly told, and oddly compelling.

Click-­Clack the Rattlebag was really just a tease, ending just as we get to the meat of it, but I quite liked the monstrous concepts of the Click-Clack and the Rattlebag. An Invocation of Incuriosity was a great story within a story, full of myth and fable, while “And Weep, Like Alexander” was a fun story about un-inventing and the unintended consequences of progress. Nothing O’Clock, the Doctor Who story, was one of my favorites, taking as its inspiration the simple question of "What time is it, Mr. Wolf?" and making of it something perfectly creepy, properly Who-amusing, and entirely unsettling in its resolution.

Pearls: A Fairy Tale was just that - a faery tale - but a contemporary one of drugs, dogs, hookers, stepmothers, and magic, that I quite enjoyed. Kether to Malkuth and The Sleeper and the Spindle both continued the classic faery tale theme, but in a more familiar setting . . . even if Gaiman puts a few unexpected twists on the traditional tropes.

Introductions are always a tricky thing when it comes to a collection, and you wonder/worry about how much the author might give away, but I think it fits here as an intro (rather than an appendix). Gaiman really sets the stage for each tale, telling us less about them and more about how they came about. They allowed me to appreciate some stories (such as A Calendar of Tales), even if I didn't enjoy them, and really served to expose his inspirations. All in all, Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances is a solid collection, despite the dry spot in the center, and perfect for those of who don't follow his short fiction obsessively.

Acclaimed author Neil Gaiman introduces this collection by confessing it doesn't stand up to his own test: that a collection should consist of works meant to go together, not just a hodgepodge of writing. Mr. Gaiman more than sells himself short with this confession. Yes, it's true that the first piece is seemingly a throwaway prose poem about writing. A foolish reader would stop here and deem the book an unworthy read. However, Gaiman quickly redeems himself with the (of course unrelated) combination of "Lunar Labyrinth" and "The Thing About Cassandra." It's immediately apparent that Gaiman was telling the truth in that introduction. We aren't going to see a common theme in this book (other than great writing, of course). Rather, we're going to get a little bit of everything, and it's a huge reward.

Gaiman shows in this collection that he's capable of it all. From humor to the absurd to the utterly fantastic to the downright traditional, Gaiman churns out story after story of engaging plots and characters, yanking the reader along for a satisfying (if not confusing) ride.

At times, this reads like a collection of demos or outtakes. Some of these pieces will have you thinking, "How could such a great writer produce this?" However, the amount of fluff and filler you have to sift through to get to the good stuff is far from a monumental task. Gaiman provides plenty of hits in this collection (although some stories do feel like false starts).

My personal favorites are "The Thing About Cassandra," "Click-Clack the Rattlebag," "The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury," and "And Weep, Like Alexander," the last of which is surely one of the most amusing and thought-provoking stories of this century. Sure, not everything in here is a gem, but it's a fine hodgepodge of writing. Don't say Mr. Gaiman didn't warn you.

In Neil Gaiman’s third short story collection, fans can expect a similar collection to the last, Fragile Things, with an introduction explaining the origin and history of each of the works, a wide selection of short stories and poetry they have likely not read before, and a nice thick novella set in the world of American Gods. The title, however, may have been in poor choice for, while he does talk about it in his introduction, the more correct and appropriate meaning of the term has little to do with being scared and/or entertained with some stories.

The collection runs the true gamut, showing Gaiman’s breadth and spectrum as a writer, and would make an ideal introduction to the author for anyone wanting to read him for the first time. “The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains” is the haunting story of a dwarf in search of a guide to take him to a cave where riches lie. “The Sleeper and the Spindle” is a fairytale that blends Snow White with Sleeping Beauty. “Nothing O’clock” is an original Doctor Who story from Gaiman. “The Case of Death and Honey” looks at an aging Sherlock Holmes looking to solve one last mystery.

No two stories are alike in Trigger Warning, which is what you really want in a short story collection. The stories here cover all the genres and take the reader to interesting and unusual places. There is joy and sadness and everything in between.

Originally written on April 18, 2015 ©Alex C. Telander.

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Trigger Warning is a collection of short stories and some poems by Neil Gaiman. What I like with collections like this one is that they usually have something for us all. Not everything is to one’s liking, but if you are lucky most are. And, Trigger Warning is mostly in my opinion a very good collection of stories. Of course, some are better than the others and I think personally I liked the ones that were a bit longer. The “bad” thing with collections like this is they are sometimes hard to put down because it so easy to just say to yourself “just one more story” they are short. And, then you happen to stumble over a Doctor Who story that isn’t that short, but you have to read it because it is Doctor Who, even despite the fact that is an 11 Doctor story (Long story short, not my favorite Doctor).

Anyway, instead of writing about every story in this collection will I mention some of my favorites like:

The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains, one of the longest stories in this book and a very intriguing to read.

Orange, the kind of story that grows on you. I found questionnaire format of the story odd in the beginning, but then I started to like it.

The Case of Death and Honey, a Sherlock Holmes story, I have read it before in another collection, but I read it again since it was a while ago. One of the best Sherlock Holmes short stories I have ever read and I have a feeling I like it even better than the first time I read it.

Jerusalem, what I enjoyed with this story was that I had no idea that Jerusalem Syndrome was a thing and I really enjoyed the wonderful twist in the story. Would I dare travel to Jerusalem in the future?

Click-Clack the Rattlebag, the only story in this collection that actually was a bit scary. I mean I wasn’t scared when I read it but reading this when you are alone in a house and hearing sounds in the attic would probably not be that nice.

“And Weep, Like Alexander”, oh that ending, marvelous! A charming and funny story.

Nothing O'Clock, the Doctor Who story and as I wrote above not my favorite Doctor but Gaiman can write stories so good that I enjoyed this one despite that. And last but not the least,

The Sleeper and the Spindle, for some reason I thought the title was the Sleeper and the Spider. I think sometimes your mind plays tricks on you. Anyway, Spindle makes much more sense and I liked this once upon a time story very much.

There are several other good stories, but these are some that I appreciated.

Thanks to William Morrow and Edelweiss for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I am a huge Neil Gaiman fan and was happily surprised when I saw he had a new book out. I was going to put it on my wish list in Audible, when my fiancée told me not to. Then she gave me my Valentine’s Day present a little early. Not hard to guess it was the hardback of Trigger Warning.

This is a book of short stories, with a few poems added in. As he is noted for, Gaiman’s stories are all more than a bit unearthly. He has a way of subtly raising the hair on the back of my neck, all unnoticed. Unnoticed, that is, until the story’s climax.

Included in the collection are a Doctor Who story, a story about Shadow (main character of Ameican Gods—a must read), a rather different take on Sherlock Holmes, and the award winning “Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains…”

The title comes from the Internet. Often a post is prefaced by the words “trigger warning” as a way to let readers know it contains disturbing material that could trigger “flashbacks of anxiety or terror.” The power of words to sculpt and shape our emotions and our emotional responses is always amazing to me. In the hands of a master like Gaiman, that power is multiplied.

If you are a Gaiman fan, I don’t need to tell you to get the book. If you haven’t read his work yet, this is a good an introduction as any. I don’t think I’ll put it in the classroom library, I think some of what is in here is a bit too much for most seventh graders. I will definitely keep it as a proud part of my collection of Gaiman’s works.

I have become such a huge fan of Neil Gaiman's short story collection. I am usually not a fan of short stories, and always find them lacking. Buying a book of short stories is a risk at any given time, and I always end up liking only a couple of stories out of the entire collection. Not with Gaiman. He surely knows how to spin a tale that can sometimes literally last 4 or 5 pages yet keep you invested throughout.

Of course, realistically speaking, not all stories were my cup of tea, but I would say 90% of the stories were enjoyable for me. I admit I was not a fan of the poetry segments included, but then again, I was never a fan of poetry to begin with. I also did not enjoy Nothing O'Clock at all, but again, I have never actually watched Doctor Who (I know I know, the horror!), so could not relate at all and did not really care for it.

That being said, the rest of the stories all ranged from good to great to I-can-read-this-over-and-over-and-over-again amazing. Some of my favourites included The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountain, which I have as a separate graphic novel, The Sleeper and the Spindle, which I also have as a separate graphic novel and is a great twist combo on Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, A Calendar of Tales in which Gaiman tells a different story for each month, The Case of Death and Honey is a fantastic Sherlock Holmes story which tells the tale of Holmes moving to China for a number of years to keep bees with a great twist in the end and Orange, where Gaiman provides answers to questions that we assume are part of a police interrogation, which makes for an interesting format.

In general, this is a great collection of stories that definitely has something for everyone. They are all written quite brilliantly, even the ones I didn't enjoy so much, and I think Neil Gaiman once again demonstrates his ability to write a story that falls under every genre imaginable!

I adore Neil Gaiman and his work. He is a master of creating other worlds to transport readers. This most recent short story and poem anthology is no exception. As with any short story collection, I did not fully enjoy every single story, but I did have several favorites.

"'The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains…'" is the eerie tale of a man determined to get gold from a cave in the mountains, and the dark truths that await he and his guide when they reach this cave. "A Calendar of Tales" is made up of short works inspired by each month of the year, and some of the month stories I just loved--the July, October, and December tales were fantastic. "The Case of Death and Honey" is Gaiman's take on Sherlock Holmes, who has aged and travels to the mountains of China to explore a mystery involving bees. "The Sleeper and the Spindle" fantastically blends the stories of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Sleeping Beauty," in a way that I think only Neil Gaiman could pull off. Finally, "Black Dog" brings us back to the world of "American Gods," with Shadow Moon visiting an English village pub and encountering some strange characters there.

There are 24 total stories and poems in this volume, and the ones I mentioned above were the ones I enjoyed the most. Gaiman also wrote an introduction that is an excellent read itself (which is amazing, because usually I find book introductions to be boring and I skim them!). He introduces each story or poem in turn, and I loved reading the backstory on each one. I will caution you that it seems that many of these stories have been published in other mediums or anthologies previously, so if you are a die-hard Gaiman fanatic, there will probably not be very many that you have not read before.

What continues to amaze me about this collection is that two full weeks after finishing the entire work, some of these stories still pop into my head from time to time. The worlds that Gaiman creates are so spellbinding and well-developed that they stay with you for a long time to come. At both the beginning and end of his introduction, Gaiman cautions us and invites us in: "Consider yourself warned…Enjoy the things that never happened…"

At long last is my review of Neil's "Trigger Warning". Sorry it has taken me so long. I got to see Neil and Amanda last week and that was fantastic. I wrote a blog about it: that blog entry is here.

For some reason I put off reading this book for a long time. Why would I, such an avid fan of Neil Gaiman, put off his most recent book? I judged this book by its title and by some of the reviews on Goodreads. I thought it may be too much of a horror book for me. I thought it may be his nod to Stephen King and his ilk. I can safely tell you that neither is the case. This book is a collection of poetry and short stories, which are very Gaiman. Is there some horror? Definitely, but it is not any more terrifying than "Coraline" or other short stories of his. 5/5 stars for sure.

This book includes 24 pieces, if you do not count "Calendar of Tales" separately. His Introduction explains each work, which I read after reading the particular story. Some of these stories and/or characters are familiar. I actually saw him perform "July" from "Calendar of Tales" at the event on July 11th in Providence.

Here's a run down:
Making a Chair-simple poem about the writing process

A Lunar Labyrinth- I kept thinking about the movie "Pan's Labyrinth" while reading this this movie. This story was inspired by Gene Wolfe's "A Solar Labyrinth"

The Thing About Cassandra-I will not tell you about this one as I don't want to spoil the surprise. I loved this story.

Down to a Sunless Sea-inspired by Grand Guignol. Certainly an interesting story about the sea.

"The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains"-oh this one is good. Neil performed this at the Sydney Opera House with FourPlay and Eddie Campbell, as well as other places. It's about a dwarf, a local man, and supposed treasure in a cave in the Black Mountains.

My Last Landlady-This is one creepy story. It was written for the World Horror Convention in Brighton.

Adventure Story- This was supposed to be written for a radio show, but the producers didn't like it, so here it is. Neil writes "It's a sort of companion piece to my novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane, I think, in that respect [about death]."

Orange- An odd one about "something elses"

A Calendar of Tales- a story for every month. Fantastic. Neil asked questions, people answered, and he wrote stories about them. October Tale is my favorite.

The Case of Death and Honey-A Sherlock Holmes story that I must have read in another book.

The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury- definitely a tribute to the author's mentor. Fantastic read.

Jerusalem-This was commissioned by the BBC for William Blake week. I am not a big fan of Blake but I like this story.

Click-Clack the Rattlebag-if there is one true horror story in this collection, it is this one. A tribute to the scary stories of childhood.

"An Invocation of Incuriosity-inspired by Jack Vance. An adventure in time travel.

"And Weep, Like Alexander"- a tribute to Arthur C. Clarke Interesting story about why we don't have certain inventions.

Nothing O'Clock: Doctor Who. Enough said.

Diamonds and Pearls: A Fairy Tale-for Amanda.

The Return of the Thin White Duke- not my favorite. About Bowie.

Feminine Endings-a love letter and Amanda

Observing the Formalities- Maleficent narrating her side of the story

The Sleeper and the Spindle-An EXCELLENT Sleeping Beauty story.

Witch Work-a witch, a box, and limits of magic

In Relig Odhrain- poor Saint Columba and his demise

Black Dog-I love this story. We meet Shadow Moon again.

So, please go read this. This anthology is a great showcase of Gaiman's imagination and writing talents. This will also be posted on Goodreads.

Find the book: It's available in e-reader, paperback, hardcover, and audio in most places.
The illustrious Neil Gaiman can be found on-line in lots of places. He tours annually too, although that may be slowing down now that Amanda is pregnant and due very soon.

His next book out is the Author's Preferred Text of Neverwhere.

Neil Gaiman is a storyteller nonpareil. I cannot name another living author who is so adept at taking the reader to any corner of the earth and beyond with such seeming ease. The tales in this collection in both prose and verse are wondrously engaging, and at times frightening and they haunt you after you finish reading them. "Click Clack the Ratttlebag" is one such story, based on personal friend and indie goddess Tori Amos's house, in a treasure trove of varied tales. It starts innocently enough with a young man who is asked to tell his girlfriend's little brother a bedtime story but it turns dramatically in a space of just 5 pages to arrive at a spine-chilling conclusion.

In "A Calendar of Tales", Gaiman tells a different story for each month of a year that is so much more than a mere pastiche of disparate pieces. In "Orange", Gaiman lists the answers to implied questions from the police as an inventive and surprisingly effective way of telling the story, which turns out to be as realistic as it is the stuff of science fiction. There are murder mysteries with a touch of the supernatural and and pieces defying genre classification, two of which feature iconic characters like Dr Who and Sherlock Holmes.

And of course in any Gaiman collection, there will be fairy tales. It is always a delight to read Gaiman's versions, like "The Sleeper and the Spindle" (also published as a graphic novel in its own right) that features both Snow White and the Sleeping Beauty in new and gender-defying kick-ass roles.

I truly enjoyed this book, and look forward to re-savouring each of these pieces soon.

Mandy's Review:

Confession: I've never read a Neil Gaiman book before.

I've seen all the fandom comments about his works, but I've never jumped on the bandwagon. When I was offered a chance to review his latest, TRIGGER WARNING, I figured now was my opportunity to see what all the fuss was about. And, if I didn't like it, at least I didn't pay for the book. So, it was with great anticipation that I read ...

If you don't know what the phrase "trigger warning" means, it is a caution to people. It mentally prepares them that something they encounter (i.e. images, ideas, a book, a program) could upset them and trigger flashbacks or anxiety or terror. In his Introduction, Neil Gaiman wondered if someone would one day put a trigger warning on his fiction ... so he decided to do it first.

The book is a hodgepodge of ideas and genres. The same theme does not run throughout and I like that. It gave me the perfect sampling of Gaiman's literary creativeness that helped me to decide whether or not he's worth another read. I'll cover a few of TRIGGER WARNING's stories in this review but you'll have to read the book for yourself if you want an opinion on all of them.

The Thing About Cassandra was the first story that intrigued me and made me want to know more. You begin reading about Stuart and then finish up with Cassandra. It's a constant tug-o-war wondering who's real and who isn't until you get to the end, then you're just left wondering what the heck happened and how. What abilities does the last person standing have and how did they get them? Are they cursed? Are they good or evil? Are they lonely or do they prefer to live this way?

It was good to visit my old friend Holmes in The Case of Death and Honey. It was a classic, seemingly unsolvable whodunit, with just a slight twist of difference and originality. Holmes, of course, shined bright and solved the case - and is now on a mission to find Watson before it's too late.

I've never thought about what it'd be like to visit a holy city. Will the overwhelming religious vibrations affect how you think and act? Will the past come crashing down on you changing the very person you are? In Jerusalem, Gaiman explores what changes visiting a holy city might make on a person's psyche and, in turn, their behavior.

Finally, my favorite of the bunch, Feminine Endings. It begins as a love letter. The writer's adoration of his love is apparent. The sweetness of the letter turns questionable partway through. Does the recipient even know the writer? Have the two ever interacted? Towards the end, the writer seems a bit stalkerish and unstable. It's quite disturbing how, throughout the course of one letter, a person can appear innocent and sane only to end up scary and avoidable. I loved it.

I didn't care for all of the stories in this anthology, but I think that's the beauty of something like this. You don't have to like all of selections. It did give me enough insight into who Neil Gaiman is as a writer to know that I would love to give another of his darker novels a chance. I'm not quite on the bandwagon but my foot is on the step. =)

*A hardcopy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the few books where I actually read the introduction, as Gaiman includes the why and/or how he wrote each of the stories. I bookmarked the intro and went back and forth between the explanation and the story in question so that it would be fresh in my mind as I read. Clever! (clever author, not clever me....)

To be honest, after awhile I wished that each intro was in front of its story because flipping back and forth became slightly annoying. Guess I'm a lazy reader! ha!

The first story in a collection is usually chosen with care and sets the tone for the entire book, so I was a little mystified by the author's choice. The first story is called I Made A Chair. Gaiman explains that one day the words wouldn't come, so he made a chair. Literally. The words wouldn't come and he didn't want to force them, so he put together a chair. An odd choice and an odd pseudo-poem, but I was enthralled. Way to keep me on my toes and let me know I was in for a fun ride!

One of my favorite things in this collection is A Calendar of Tales, sort of a mini-collection. Twelve stories, one for each month and inspired by tweet prompts sent out by Gaiman. The man does seem to love Twitter! Especially enjoyed the story with the genie. And the one with the brazier? Clever!

Loved the Dr. Who story, as it features my favorite Doctor. And a new, original Shadow story? Sold! Love both of those franchises and neither one disappointed.

There are a few stories that I've read before and, while not every story was to my liking, I think this is a worthwhile collection for any Neil Gaiman and/or short story fan. Say what you will, the man can write!

1) Just one previous experience, "The Ocean At The End Of The Lane". Thought it was a murder mystery, judging from the cover art. It wasn't, but ultimately that wouldn't seem to matter much. My five star the store review's out in the Internet ozone someplace.

2) Caught a suitably respectful review for this one in the local press two months ago, and after that introduction to what you might call 'Neil's magic bag', there was no way I was NOT going to read it. Even if it is primarily a collection of previously published short stories.

3) Title refers to our phobias, those creepy little private things that make our respective skins crawl. Those are triggers, and as Gaiman warns (promises?) you're liable to find a few in this collection. He also devotes an introductory section to explain the genesis of each story or poem. And since they're all so utterly novel in so many diverse ways, that too can make interesting reading.

4) Virtually all of the stories and poems work. Some of them REALLY, REALLY work. My favorite might be "The Thing About Cassandra", which features both the great premise of an old fantasy girl friend turning real and a twist ending. Or maybe "Orange", wherein the story is presented via responses given to some British Extraterrestrial Affairs government drone filling in a contact form. Loved the idea of expository writing via the A half of a Q and A format so much, I had to try it out here personally forthwith.

5) I been asking myself that. There are authors who seem to write for the general public, and those apparently focused on the critics. Gaiman is writing for the critics, but only because he's writing for everybody. It's probably not an accident that many of the previous book credits on the 'Also by Neil Gaiman' page here are labelled 'for all ages'. And from what I've seen, he connects. He could have established a widespread audience a hundred years ago. And, if there's a divine justice, they'll be reading him a hundred years from now. I hope so on both counts.

6) Absolutely. Fast as I can get my hands on them. Maybe even the 'for all ages' ones.

[Note: a one-word description of the Plot Mood, Pace, or Characters of a collection of short stories is clearly impossible. There should have been a choice "Some of each"]

Writers of horror and fantasy have it easy. They can dispense with the complex character development and elaborate scene staging of contemporary or historical fiction and go straight for the gut feelings, drawing on the vast structure of myth and legend to sustain their imaginative flights of fancy. Part of the charm of Neil Gaiman is that while taking advantage of all that, his fantasies and horrors have a root in reality; his reincarnation of the Norse god Baldur is nervous about the girl from the pub making a move on him; the little boy in the dark house asks for a bedtime story; Snow White is bored by Prince Charming and enjoys hanging out with dwarves.

Gaiman pays a price for this charm. His aliens, with their adopted human traits, are not truly night-marish in the way H.P. Lovecraft's aliens were.. They will not prevent you from sleeping or from re-reading this book. His horror, although it speaks of gore and evil, is not
as terrifying as Stephen King's inexplicable evils. And he totally misses the dark sexual edge of Theodore Sturgeon at his best. (Try to find a copy of "E Pluribus Unicorn" and read "Bianca's Hands.")

One cavil: There are maybe a few too many dark and stormy nights in this collection of stories. Is it possible to have horror on a bright sunshiny day? (Yes, of course. See Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery".)

A bonus in this collection is the introduction, where Gaiman talks about the inspirations and circumstances which led to each story or poem. The craft of writing is a magical mystery, and Gaiman lets us peek behind the curtain enough to make us feel like welcome friends in his imaginary universe.

At this point I’ll read anything by Neil Gaiman so when the publisher offered TRIGGER WARNING for review I snapped it up. While I’m not faintingly in love with the book all of the stories are very much Gaiman-esque while showcasing the range he has as a writer. I’m not as widely read in his work as other people are so I’m sure they’ve known he’s had range for a while but this anthology is a great peek into the myriad of ways that Gaiman can suck you into a world and hold you there.

‘The Thing About Cassandra’ was a good little mind-bender about a guy’s made up girlfriend while ‘Click-Clack the Rattlebag’ may just give you a scare. If nothing else it’ll creepy you out a little. ‘Nothing O’Clock’ gave me a look into the whole Who world and I liked what I read. (Don’t look at me like that. Dr. Who’s never really interested me but I like the story Gaiman wrote. Give me credit for that, at least). ‘The Sleeper and the Spindle’ was the f/f Snow White/Sleeping Beauty story that everyone lost their minds about when word first got around that Gaiman was writing it. While I liked the story itself it’s nothing like you would think a potentially lesbian fairy tale would work out and it all ends up being properly Gaimaned. I was tickled by the ending on that one. ‘Black Dog’ is a bit travel story, a bit finding oneself story, and a bit of a homicidal maniac story with some ghost-like things thrown in. It’s rather well-rounded in that regard.

I know it’s such a cliched thing to say but there really is something for everyone in TRIGGER WARNING although things tend to lean toward the darker side of life. But that’s sort of my thing so I end up liking demented things like this. Even if it’s just a little demented it’s better than no dement.

Bit of a short review but I tend to have problems reviewing anthologies. Because they’re set up to be one whole I look at it from a macro level but it’s not a cohesive story so there isn’t a lot to really dig into. Just little bursts of genius that are enough to make me sigh contentedly before moving on. And that’s okay. But I think I’d prefer a full Gaiman novel to shorts only because I like it when he starts fleshing out a story. I think that’s when he really becomes something to faint over and I have a lovely fainting couch just waiting for my limp body to fall upon it.

4

Trigger Warning is some of Neil Gaiman's finest, most intricate work to date. Short stories allow him to give us a glimmer or a shard of imagination that, like a seed, can grow into so much more, not unlike the works of Ray Bradbury. And speaking of Bradbury, Gaiman's "The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury" is the celebration of one of Neil's own beloved inspirations, and a fellow master storyteller.
Gaiman delights with other tales, as well. Fans of Doctor Who, and the Eleventh Doctor in particular would delight in the tale "Nothing O' Clock", which gives us a wonderful tale of everyone's favorite Time Lord (or one incarnation, anyway).
Gaiman has touched on the world of Sherlock Holmes before with his superb delight, "A Study In Emerald". However, this time he gives us a brilliant look at what Holmes has done in his retirement, and just why it was that he was keeping bees in "The Case of Death and Honey".
And "A Calender of Tales" gives us Gaiman's foray into the world of Twitter, where he asked his fans twelve questions, one for each month, and then crafted a tale based on the answers he received. The unfortunate thing is, and sadly there is an unfortunate thing, while we get those twelve wonderful little tales, we do not get the questions and answers that gave birth to them, as we did online, and we do not get the illustrations with them as crafted by fans and as chosen by Neil himself. However, that's a small thing, and won't detract from the review of this collection as a whole.
I wish I'd known beforehand that "The Sleeper and the Spindle" was available in this collection. I ordered that volume before this one, and now find myself with two copies. However, whereas the standalone version is illustrated, the version in this collection is not. I will say that if it had been, and including those illustrations had raised the price of the book by $5 for the extra pages, it would have been worth it. But these decisions are the editor's to make, and we cannot fault Neil for the necessary evil of the page cutters.

I love Neil Gaiman. He's funny and imaginative, and his stories freak me out AND touch my soul. These are both good things.

That said, I'm not usually a lover of short stories. I know, I know, they have their highpoints--and a great short story, or novella, can leave the reader wanting more. I usually go for size, not sure if the short stories will have the substance I like.

But I cannot resist certain authors, Gaiman being one of them. And he hit it out of the park with Trigger Warning. All the stories were wonderful; short and sweet, told with both charm and darkness, the way only Gaiman can tell it.

The title is explained by Gaiman in the forward. Each story is supposed to invoke a 'trigger warning' in the reader, a sudden push of emotion and/or surprise in the tale.

I was sad to see that my advanced copy did not include "Black Dog," a story of Shadow set after American Gods, one of my all time favorite novels. Eventually I'll have to find "Black Dog."

Anyway, some of my favorites in this anthology:

"Nothing O'Clock"--a Doctor Who story written for the 50th anniversary ( I LOVE Doctor Who).

"The Thing About Cassandra" -- a funny, creepy story about a guy whose first girlfriend makes contact with his friends and family; the thing is, he made her up in high school.

"The Sleeper and The Spindle" -- a creepy, very interesting retelling of Sleeping Beauty.

"Lunar Labyrinth" -- a take on the mythological minotaur and his maze.

"A Calendar of Tales" -- a very short, inventive tale for every month of the year.

All the stories were good. All invoked that 'trigger warning,' that gut punch that makes you suck in your breath in shock, horror, surprise, or glee. Gaiman does a great job forcing you to react.

Neil Gaiman is back with another collection of shorts for our reading pleasure, folks, and oh, I have to say, what a freaking pleasure it is!

Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances features a handful of brand new stories as well as others that have appeared elsewhere ("The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury" from Shadow Show; "Down to a Sunless Sea," which also appears in Fearie Tales; and "The Sleeper and the Spindle" from Rags & Bones, just to name a few). There are short shorts, longer shorts, poems, and even an interview ("Orange") each of them fabulous gems and wonders. There's even a Doctor Who story ("Nothing O'Clock") and a tale featuring Shadow Moon of American Gods fame ("Black Dog").

One of my favorite elements in the collection is Gaiman's insight into the background of each piece. For many, he notes authors past and present who have inspired him throughout his career (also making a book junkie like me add frantically to my own must read lists). As a reader, though, I have to say that Gaiman himself is the kind of author that readers and writers also praise for being both brilliant and inspiring. For me, in reading any of Gaiman's work, it begins with a bit of a tingle... a feeling that I'm diving into something truly special.

Whether you're a longtime fan of Gaiman's work or someone looking to discover what he's all about, Trigger Warnings is quite the perfect read. His dedication to the arts in general, libraries, and independent stores (one in my area won the event contest for Trigger Warnings) would be enough to make him a man to be admired, but he is such a tremendous talent as well and a collection like Trigger Warnings serves to further emphasize that.

Neil Gaiman Trigger Warnings
If it has Gaiman's name on it, I am going to buy it in hardcover preferably, with or without a coupon. In an Indie bookstore if I can. 25 stories and poems about the dark corridors of our imaginations. Most of these have been printed elsewhere: I strongly urge you to get your hands on the illustrated book version of The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains (2010). When I reviewed A Study in Sherlock (2011) I highlighted The Case of Death and Honey as one of the best. It is fantastic to have them collected here, as several were hard to track down. Do not read in one sitting.
(NB The Truth is a Black Cave is exceptionally read by Euan Morton in Stories by Neil Gaiman (2010). I loved the audio book read by Gaiman himself, first at the Sydney Opera House. BUT Morton's Scottish voice is absolutely perfect for this Skye folktale. Yes, I have read this four times. Once when published, again when Eddie Campbell illustrated, once listening to Gaiman, and last night listening to Morton. I own it in three formats now.)

Short story collections can be uneven. I read Gaiman's "Fragile Things" a few years ago and thought it was cohesive, creepy, and brightly written stories - worthy indeed of his fantastic novels. A lot of the stories here in "Trigger Warning," however, weren't really to my taste. I loved "Black Dog," a story featuring Shadow from "American Gods," and found amusement in the Doctor Who story, "Nothing O'Clock." I also liked "Forgetting Ray Bradbury," but I'm not sure if it's because I have a soft spot for Bradbury, or if the story was genuinely good.

I adore Neil Gaiman. His writing is superb. I usually enjoy his audiobooks because he reads them himself. However, between short stories, there is no announcement that a new story is beginning. This would be so helpful.
Then, when Mr. Gaiman is reading quietly, his voice tends to fall off. It’s incredibly difficult to understand him and hear what he’s saying. It makes the listening experience a lot less enjoyable.
I borrowed this book from the library. If I had bought it, I would have returned it. I would not pay for the quality of the audio of this book, even though the stories, as far as I can tell, are wonderful.
I wish there was a new edition with better sound quality.

... you need to read "The Return of the Thin White Duke" - I was absolutely floored. I may have cried.

A lovely collection of short stories & poems - the poems are mostly misses for me, more due to format than content. I think this would be an excellent introduction to Gaiman for new readers, and it's a solid addition to his previous works for fans.

I thought the short stories genre was losing its appeal among readers, but Neil Gaiman just rekindled my faith, and short stories masters like Anton Chekhov would also be proud of him. Gaiman's insightful recounts, brilliant use of subterfuges, lofty ideas and smooth style of writing made his works not only easy to read, but also enjoyable as well. In so few lines, we get rich and deep stories; in so few pages we get taken into worlds we are not familiar with, yet emerge more knowledgeable. I recently observed this feat in "The Usurper and Other Stories" by Janvier Chouteu, and "Rogues" by George R.R. Martin. Neil Gaiman, you have got a new fan here.

I have recently become a fan of short stories and I am already a fan of Neil Gaiman's so this was a perfect match. Each story is well crafted, however my two favorite things about this collection is 1) The introduction - the author provides a background to each of the short stories (without giving anything away) - I listened to it before starting the collection of stories and again AFTER reading the stories; and 2) Neil Gaiman narrates the audiobook himself in his delightful accent and inflections. I think I would listen to him read the Oxford Dictionary.

There are some real gems contained herein that contain images that will not merely stick with you but will emerge at the oddest moments and carry you back into Gaiman's fantasia. Gaiman has the ability to develop complex characters, engaging plots, and entire worlds in just a few pages. Certainly it is high praise but not exaggerated to state that Gaiman has something of Borges in his ability to construct multidimensional universes. Gaiman's heroines, strong women who courageously sally forth and accomplish great deeds, are particularly affirming and a welcome departure from most short story collections as well as most adventure tales.

Better than "Fragile Things" and approaching "Smoke and Mirrors" in terms of quality/likability. Most of the short stories are high fantasy, and I was surprised how many I'd already read (like Samsung's "A Calendar of Tales" that appeared on Twitter and "Click-Clack the Rattlebag"). I always find it hard to review anthologies because it's never a single vision over a long term. Either it's many visions from one imagineer, or many visions under one theme. It's too divisive to give a yay or nay. Like all anthologies, there are hits and misses. It's worth reading if you're a Neil Gaiman fan. But not if you don't like short stories.

Reviewing an anthology is always tricky. If I were reviewing individual stories or poems in this collection, the ratings would range from two or three stars (for most of the poems) to five (for several of the stories). Overall, four stars seems a bit stingy, but I can't quite stretch to five. (Oh, for half-stars....)

I liked:
--"The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains"
--Adventure Story
--The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury
--Jerusalem
--"And Weep, Like Alexander"
--The Sleeper and the Spindle
--Black Dog

I REALLY liked:
--several of the stories in A Calendar of Tales
--The Case of Death and Honey (re Sherlock Holmes)
--Nothing O'Clock (re Dr. Who)

Neil Gaiman's Trigger Warning is an eclectic collection of short stories with a mixture of science fiction and fantasy. While the bulk fall into the traditional short story genre, there are several of unique style such as a set of answers about an incident that is never detailed and without ever actually knowing what the questions were. They are all enjoyable with the classic Gaiman moderate tilt to reality. For Gaiman fans this is standard fare. Neil is one of a rare breed of true storytellers (as opposed to the novelist or typical writer). The tales are engaging, thought-provoking, and a bit out of skew. Rather than reading with all the lights on, frequent mental grounding is recommended.

Trigger Warning
By: Neil Gaiman Pages. 310
Published By: William Morrow &Company
Copy Courtesy of ReadingRoom Advanced Reader
Reviewed By: tk

Astounding accumulation of thought provoking and thrilling stories!

Neil Gaiman is a brilliant and gifted story teller. Once you open the cover and enjoy the personal introduction to the reader, you will know what an honor it is to be able to experience the imagination this amazing author has. I hit a full range of emotions during my time here. I laughed, felt sadness, and had to turn the lights on.
I usually avoid short stories, however this collection is superior.
A must have in you library!
5/5

For years now, I have claimed that Neil Gaiman is one of my pretend boyfriends.

I kind of fangirl him like a fourteen-year-old girl over One Direction, and while I'm not proud of my behavior, it's NEIL GAIMAN. I think you can forgive me.

Nevertheless, I didn't want to write a review about this book. I mean, I love him. And I love how he writes. Who will take my opinions seriously?

Yet there is one story in this collection that won't let me alone, and for that, I am compelled to review the collection.

There are some stories here that could almost - and 'almost' is an important qualifier - be for children. "Click-Clack the Rattlebag" seems like something I might have read to my children when they were younger, until I realized that it is a little bit disturbing. (Then again, how many children's stories can be categorized as such? "Hansel and Gretel"? That one gave me nightmares for years.) Gaiman also does a mash-up of "Cinderella" and "Snow White" in "The Sleeper." This time, it isn't just a girl who's fallen victim to a curse that puts her to sleep, the whole kingdom has. Enter Snow White, who comes - or tries to, anyway - the rescue.

There is a Doctor Who story, and a sort of follow-up to "American Gods."

But the one that got me and hasn't let me go is "The Thing About Cassandra."

I don't even know how to describe this story, and I won't try. Suffice it to say that, as tends to be the case in Gaiman World, nothing is as it seems. And when you finish it, you might find yourself wondering what in the world you just read. And then you'll re-read it. And then you'll think you got it, and then you start thinking about it, and you start all over again.

It's creepy. In a good way.

If you enjoy magical realism, a bit of fantasy, a bit of darkness, a bit of science fiction, and even a bit of romance, this collection is for you. It is well-written, the stories are of varied lengths and pacing, and it's Neil Gaiman!

I will admit, much as I don't want to, that I didn't love all of the stories. Yes, it's true. And I'm ready to quit Cassandra, because that story? Weirded me out and made me think far too much.

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Each story is so different and has a touch of magic about it. The thing with short story anthologies is that you probably are not going to love every single one of them. I liked the majority, but there was a couple that stood out for awesomeness and a couple that flopped for me. Overall though, it was pretty good and exactly what I expect from a mastermind writer.
I really loved, A Calendar of Tales. It was a collection of monthly vignettes within this anthology, so picture it as a set of short stories within a short story. It was epic too! September and October were what stood out with me, and those two monthly vignettes alone I would recommend you read this book for. They were THAT good. I also loved, The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains and The Sleeper and The Spindle. Ironically, even with the love of poetry I have, the stories written in prose I only liked one. I guess it just isn't something I am into. Yeah, shocks me too.
I do think a ton of you will really love this book as it is in classic Gaiman fashion. A book of magical stories, not necessarily including magic.

Most of these inventive fantasy stories only rate as "ok" for me, but there are a handful that are just outright great. I guess thats to be expected in a short story collection. There is no doubt that Neil Gaiman has a very particular genius for fantasy. My favorites in this collection:
"The Thing About Cassandra"
"Down to a Sunless Sea"
"Orange" ( laugh out loud funny)
"Click Clack the Rattlebag"
"And Weep, Like Alexander"

Writers being introspective about their writing is pure magic, which is why Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances is a must read, if only for its twenty page introduction. Gaiman writes about how this short story collection came into being, muses on how you need fiction to reveal hard truths to you and to see the world for what it is, and then he generously gives you some back-story on each story.

These are stories that are vivid and evocative and will make you think, for long hours after. The Thing About Cassandra is about a made-up girlfriend, a haunting story that could make you lonely and nostalgic and wonder if reality really is more than hazy wisps of memories. The Sleeper and the Spindle, which was first published as an illustrated fairy tale, is a rich retelling of Sleeping Beauty with a fabulously feminist twist. Down to A Sunless Sea is a short read, but one so filled with defeatist grief that it left me shuddering, and Gaiman's trigger warning finally made sense. Here are things you don't want to read about, that can and will horrify you, that are better left unread, that you therefore must read.

Often when I read short stories, I feel like it's a lifetime badly crammed into a few pages. Every carefully chosen word goes against every haphazard detail of real life. Yet, the way short story plots easily twist and spin also seems unreal. Perhaps there is an art of reading a short story I should learn, a way to add credibility to this package of unreliable oddity bursting at its seams. Jerusalem is a story that could suffer from disconnectedness. It's not traditional, and reads like something by A. S. Byatt. I think it survives because of its ending, which is refreshingly clear, practical. The story is about love and faith. It's about unconditional acceptance too. It had something of a hold on me, specially, because the way it is written reassured me there's more than garbled symbolism to "literary" fiction.

The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury is a gem, incomparable in its desperate persistence. It's about a man confronting a gradual loss of memory, of words, and ideas, and it's an urgent plea to the world to remember the writer who showed us the power of books.

In The Truth Is A Cave in the Black Mountains, Gaiman has taken fairy tale tropes like heroes, quests and lost fathers and put a spin on them. This is a bleak Dickensian tale of cold vengeance. It's an intriguing story. As is Kether to Malkuth, a delicately woven tale about an old duke and his search of meaning. These are what I know and love Gaiman for, the dire but charming fantasies.

Orange is a story written in the form of answers to a questionnaire. It's a highly experimental structure and a dark absurd story. A girl answers a top-secret-government-business-sounding questionnaire, detailing an incident where her sister apparently turned into a giant orange blob of light. You don't know the questions, which would make this an interesting book club read. It would be endlessly fascinating to see every reader fill in the blanks constructing her own unique versions of the events.

Other favourites of the collection: Feminine Endings - a chilling love letter written by a man who poses as a statue, Adventure Story - a quirky whimsical tale that will appeal to everyone with a mother, Click-Clack the Rattlebag - a disconcertingly simple horror tale, and And Weep, Like Alexander, a moral story like no other. It's a treat to revisit the Doctor and Amy in Nothing O'Clock, and the occasional poem comes as a welcome change.

But for all the great stories, Trigger Warning is a mixed bag. Sometimes Gaiman's writing seems so pointless, you have to remind yourself it's probably not and sieve the text for deeper implications. Not every story in this collection makes me call him, with full conviction, a good writer. Some stories have lost their way, some require too much effort from the reader and others are grand attempts that have ended up, for lack of a better word, flimsy.

The charm of this collection, which you may call haphazard in style and genre, lies in its variety: it is deliciously eclectic. And that's the thing about Neil Gaiman: you just cannot nail down his style. He's the king of unpredictable. There are stories in this collection, fables steeped in mythology, which seem very typically Gaiman until, one unique tale pops up that leaves you stunned and somehow devastated, because you had only just begun to believe that you knew him.

So, I would recommend this book to those who have read Gaiman, have already once been caught unaware by his genius and are eager for more. Trigger Warning is a must read for fans. It's probably not the best place to start for curious first-time explorers of his works.

Very much enjoyed this collection of short stories - definitely up to Gaiman's high standards. Short stories are pretty much always hit and miss for me, and this was no different (particularly since I don't much care for poetry), but there were lots of hits here. These were my favorites:

"The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains..." - beautiful and tight story with one of the best titles I've ever seen
"A Calendar of Tales" - almost flash fiction. Very entertaining to read.
"The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury" - a lovely tribute
"Click-Clack the Rattlebag" - this one scared me so much I had trouble sleeping
"Nothing O'Clock" - love seeing Gaiman write Doctor Who
"The Return of the Thin White Duke" - fantastic in the literal sense. Not what I was expecting.
"The Sleeper and the Spindle" - Gaiman has always done fairy tales well
"Black Dog" - seeing Shadow again is always a pleasure

Gaiman's unique voice is recognizable throughout - comfortable and familiar. Make sure to read the introduction and notes on the stories.

Overall - a very worthy collection to sit next to his others!

I can’t explain it, but no matter how gruesome or scary his stories are, they never terrify you. It’s like an NPR announcer telling a ghost story. Their soothing voice belies the horrible things they are saying. He can put bits and pieces of so many story telling traditions together and make them work seamlessly.

There are few authors I’ve read during my nineteen years of life who can give me chills and force me to think the way Neil Gaiman does.

"Trigger Warning" is a magnificent collection of short stories and poems written by the incredible Neil Gaiman, many of which appear in various other collections and collaborations. The book begins with an endearing introduction from the author himself, followed by a section discussing each story or poem, a paragraph or two for each one. After reading each selection, I would then read the accompanying paragraphs. I wanted to go into each selection blind. After spending this semester researching the short story and its origin, I have to say Neil Gaiman seems to have mastered this genre. You dive right into his stories, in the middle of a scene, and you spend the first part of the story gathering information and trying to figure out what’s going on; then, you think you have it figured out, you begin to understand the story, and Gaiman pulls the rug out from under your feet and then — the end. His stories are like a roller coaster, not necessarily in pace, but in the sense that the direction is constantly changing and it ends just as suddenly as it starts.

Gaiman’s poetry was interesting and not like other poems I have read, but then again I’m not very experienced with modern poetry. His stories were my main focus and enjoyment, though, and many of them left my mind spinning and heart racing. There were many touching stories in this collection, but more of them that creeped me out and gave me a very unsettling feeling. It’s not that his stories are necessarily scary like a horror novel; it’s more that they are suspenseful and make you think about yourself, life, and existence. The ideas are scary, not the content.

There are some of my favorites from this collection. I’ll tell you a little about them in hopes that maybe something sounds interesting to you and you, too, will pick up this book, because it’s really great.

-“The Thing About Cassandra” is about a teenager who is teased for not having a girlfriend and for being a virgin, so he invents a girlfriend in his mind and tells everybody about her. As an adult, his imaginary girlfriend decides it’s time to meet him.

-“Down to a Sunless Sea” is about an old women missing her son, a boy who ran away to become a sailor and never came back.

-“The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains…” is about a man’s journey to avenge his daughter.

-“Click-Clack the Rattlebag” is about the reason houses creak and moan when we’re alone in the dark. Just so you guys know, this story was absolutely creepy and after I read it I had to look behind me. I read it at night and had nightmares. Not sure if these two events are connected, but I’m not saying they aren’t.

-“Feminine Endings” is about a man writing a love letter to the woman he admires. This story also creeped me out and forced me to look behind me.

Neil Gaiman is amazing. This is the only book I’ve read of his, but I am determined to read more. This man is one of the most talented contemporary writers I’ve come across, and has written at least one book that can appeal to all ages. He is a master storyteller and has the best reading voice of all-time. I actually got the chance to listen to him speak in Charleston this past October and it was fantastic. Neil Gaiman is a big deal. His writing is beautiful and his plots are always interesting and original. I encourage you all to read his stuff. It’s creepy, but in a good way.

I’m going to write an overview, not a review, of Neil Gaiman’s Trigger Warning. I don’t particularly feel like evaluating it yet, for one thing, and I think a description will be enough anyhow. What I will provide is maybe a brief description of the content followed by a quotation from each section. That should be enough to hook you into buying the book, hopefully, or to put you off of it forever. Either is fine. For my part, while I’d read a little bit of Gaiman before, this book is the one that made me a real fan. I’m reading American Gods for the first time now because of it.

Trigger Warning is a collection of twenty-four short stories preceded by an introduction in which Gaiman talks about his own stories. He warns you what he’s going to do ahead of time, and suggests that you think about how you want to learn about the stories before reading the rest of the introduction. You could read straight through, skip it, or come back afterwards, he suggests. I read the book cover to cover, introduction through the stories, and I didn’t feel that reading the introduction ruined the stories for me. I think that if I were to read the book again, I might just skip the introduction and then read each section of it immediately after reading the story.

Favorite quotation from the introduction? Gaiman’s description of how he met his wife: “I first spent time with the woman who would become my wife because she wanted to make a book of photographs of herself dead, to accompany her album Who Killed Amanda Palmer? She had been taking photographs of herself dead since she was eighteen. She wrote to me and pointed out that nobody was going to buy a book of photos of a dead woman who wasn’t even actually dead, but perhaps if I wrote some captions they might” (xxxii).

The rest of this overview can be found here:

http://jamesrovira.com/2015/09/12/neil-gaimans-trigger-warning-an-overview/

Trigger Warning is an eerie, irreverent, occasionally shocking bouquet of absolutely wonderful stories and poems. He took his title from the psychological term which has grown so popular of late. A “trigger warning” is a caution to any passersby that the contents of the upcoming experience could remind them of past traumas, deep fears, and generally unsafe places. That's a pretty accurate picture of what it's like to wander through the stories of Mr. Gaiman's imagination.

My first exposure to Gaiman was through some of his films (Coraline, Stardust, the wonderful, delightful, totally original Mirrormask, etc.) and I was not surprised to find that I loved his books even more than the darkly whimsical movies that came from them. Trigger Warning made me stop in my tracks and say “whoa…” out loud more than once. It has made me dream of wandering through the gray, misty landscape of the Isle of Skye. I’ve been lost in the stark, burnt out remains of the Lunar Labyrinth. And I now listen to the howls of wolves very differently.

The short stories and poems of this collection varied widely in length and style, but Gaiman’s signature lilt of melancholy amusement and morbid beauty ran throughout. A few, like “Click-Clack the Rattlebag" and “Feminine Endings”, left me a little more wary of the weird, wide world. Still, not a single story left me disappointed.

I always recommend Neil Gaiman. He’s not for children, mostly, or for the faint of spirit. But if you’re willing, if you’re able, he will lead you to places in the realm of Faerie that will press new perspectives upon you, for better or for worse. And he’ll do it with inimitable style.

Very much enjoyed this collection of short stories - definitely up to Gaiman's high standards. Short stories are pretty much always hit and miss for me, and this was no different (particularly since I don't much care for poetry), but there were lots of hits here. These were my favorites:

"The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains..." - beautiful and tight story with one of the best titles I've ever seen
"A Calendar of Tales" - almost flash fiction. Very entertaining to read.
"The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury" - a lovely tribute
"Click-Clack the Rattlebag" - this one scared me so much I had trouble sleeping
"Nothing O'Clock" - love seeing Gaiman write Doctor Who
"The Return of the Thin White Duke" - fantastic in the literal sense. Not what I was expecting.
"The Sleeper and the Spindle" - Gaiman has always done fairy tales well
"Black Dog" - seeing Shadow again is always a pleasure

Gaiman's unique voice is recognizable throughout - comfortable and familiar. Make sure to read the introduction and notes on the stories.

Overall - a very worthy collection to sit next to his others!

I can’t explain it, but no matter how gruesome or scary his stories are, they never terrify you. It’s like an NPR announcer telling a ghost story. Their soothing voice belies the horrible things they are saying. He can put bits and pieces of so many story telling traditions together and make them work seamlessly.

There are few authors I’ve read during my nineteen years of life who can give me chills and force me to think the way Neil Gaiman does.

"Trigger Warning" is a magnificent collection of short stories and poems written by the incredible Neil Gaiman, many of which appear in various other collections and collaborations. The book begins with an endearing introduction from the author himself, followed by a section discussing each story or poem, a paragraph or two for each one. After reading each selection, I would then read the accompanying paragraphs. I wanted to go into each selection blind. After spending this semester researching the short story and its origin, I have to say Neil Gaiman seems to have mastered this genre. You dive right into his stories, in the middle of a scene, and you spend the first part of the story gathering information and trying to figure out what’s going on; then, you think you have it figured out, you begin to understand the story, and Gaiman pulls the rug out from under your feet and then — the end. His stories are like a roller coaster, not necessarily in pace, but in the sense that the direction is constantly changing and it ends just as suddenly as it starts.

Gaiman’s poetry was interesting and not like other poems I have read, but then again I’m not very experienced with modern poetry. His stories were my main focus and enjoyment, though, and many of them left my mind spinning and heart racing. There were many touching stories in this collection, but more of them that creeped me out and gave me a very unsettling feeling. It’s not that his stories are necessarily scary like a horror novel; it’s more that they are suspenseful and make you think about yourself, life, and existence. The ideas are scary, not the content.

There are some of my favorites from this collection. I’ll tell you a little about them in hopes that maybe something sounds interesting to you and you, too, will pick up this book, because it’s really great.

-“The Thing About Cassandra” is about a teenager who is teased for not having a girlfriend and for being a virgin, so he invents a girlfriend in his mind and tells everybody about her. As an adult, his imaginary girlfriend decides it’s time to meet him.

-“Down to a Sunless Sea” is about an old women missing her son, a boy who ran away to become a sailor and never came back.

-“The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains…” is about a man’s journey to avenge his daughter.

-“Click-Clack the Rattlebag” is about the reason houses creak and moan when we’re alone in the dark. Just so you guys know, this story was absolutely creepy and after I read it I had to look behind me. I read it at night and had nightmares. Not sure if these two events are connected, but I’m not saying they aren’t.

-“Feminine Endings” is about a man writing a love letter to the woman he admires. This story also creeped me out and forced me to look behind me.

Neil Gaiman is amazing. This is the only book I’ve read of his, but I am determined to read more. This man is one of the most talented contemporary writers I’ve come across, and has written at least one book that can appeal to all ages. He is a master storyteller and has the best reading voice of all-time. I actually got the chance to listen to him speak in Charleston this past October and it was fantastic. Neil Gaiman is a big deal. His writing is beautiful and his plots are always interesting and original. I encourage you all to read his stuff. It’s creepy, but in a good way.

I’m going to write an overview, not a review, of Neil Gaiman’s Trigger Warning. I don’t particularly feel like evaluating it yet, for one thing, and I think a description will be enough anyhow. What I will provide is maybe a brief description of the content followed by a quotation from each section. That should be enough to hook you into buying the book, hopefully, or to put you off of it forever. Either is fine. For my part, while I’d read a little bit of Gaiman before, this book is the one that made me a real fan. I’m reading American Gods for the first time now because of it.

Trigger Warning is a collection of twenty-four short stories preceded by an introduction in which Gaiman talks about his own stories. He warns you what he’s going to do ahead of time, and suggests that you think about how you want to learn about the stories before reading the rest of the introduction. You could read straight through, skip it, or come back afterwards, he suggests. I read the book cover to cover, introduction through the stories, and I didn’t feel that reading the introduction ruined the stories for me. I think that if I were to read the book again, I might just skip the introduction and then read each section of it immediately after reading the story.

Favorite quotation from the introduction? Gaiman’s description of how he met his wife: “I first spent time with the woman who would become my wife because she wanted to make a book of photographs of herself dead, to accompany her album Who Killed Amanda Palmer? She had been taking photographs of herself dead since she was eighteen. She wrote to me and pointed out that nobody was going to buy a book of photos of a dead woman who wasn’t even actually dead, but perhaps if I wrote some captions they might” (xxxii).

The rest of this overview can be found here:

http://jamesrovira.com/2015/09/12/neil-gaimans-trigger-warning-an-overview/

Trigger Warning is an eerie, irreverent, occasionally shocking bouquet of absolutely wonderful stories and poems. He took his title from the psychological term which has grown so popular of late. A “trigger warning” is a caution to any passersby that the contents of the upcoming experience could remind them of past traumas, deep fears, and generally unsafe places. That's a pretty accurate picture of what it's like to wander through the stories of Mr. Gaiman's imagination.

My first exposure to Gaiman was through some of his films (Coraline, Stardust, the wonderful, delightful, totally original Mirrormask, etc.) and I was not surprised to find that I loved his books even more than the darkly whimsical movies that came from them. Trigger Warning made me stop in my tracks and say “whoa…” out loud more than once. It has made me dream of wandering through the gray, misty landscape of the Isle of Skye. I’ve been lost in the stark, burnt out remains of the Lunar Labyrinth. And I now listen to the howls of wolves very differently.

The short stories and poems of this collection varied widely in length and style, but Gaiman’s signature lilt of melancholy amusement and morbid beauty ran throughout. A few, like “Click-Clack the Rattlebag" and “Feminine Endings”, left me a little more wary of the weird, wide world. Still, not a single story left me disappointed.

I always recommend Neil Gaiman. He’s not for children, mostly, or for the faint of spirit. But if you’re willing, if you’re able, he will lead you to places in the realm of Faerie that will press new perspectives upon you, for better or for worse. And he’ll do it with inimitable style.

This was actually the first Neil Gaiman book I've ever read. So many people have tried to get me to read his books for the longest time that I finally gave in.

I did mostly enjoy it. There were some stories that were so clever they made me smile as I was reading them. The book overall is slightly creepy, but I enjoy that sort of thing. There were some stories that seemed to drag or were a little bit hard to follow.

In the end I would say it was worth the quick read and it did keep me entertained. Not bad for my first look at this author. It won't be the last book I read from him.

I'm going to have to read this as some point. I couldn't stay focused on some of the stories in the audiobook and I really wanted to pay attention! Neil Gaiman's narrating was pretty quiet and hard to hear, even at higher volumes. The stories I did catch all of were really good! The Dr. Who story was awesome. Click-Clack the Rattlebag was creepy. The Sherlock Holmes story was a little confusing. Overall, a great collection that I will definitely read or skim at some point.

The living treasure known as Neil Gaiman is among my favorite contemporary writers. The man has long proven himself beyond imaginative, and on top of that he is one of the most gifted storytellers among authors active today. I am a fan, also, of short stories in general, so this was a book I naturally wanted as soon as I could get it. Well....it's absolutely not a bad book, and even if it was, Gaiman on an off day is still better than 4/5ths of anyone else out there. Yet, I can't say there was any particular story in this collection that grabbed me the way so many other of Neil Gaiman's tales have. I don't regret buying it or reading it, and if you're into his work---and by gawd, if you aren’t into his work, why the hell not?---by all means take the plunge, but overall I have to confess to being a tiny bit.... (caution, sadly uttered blasphemy ahead) disappointed...? But hey, I’m sure great things await me with his next book!

Neil Gaiman is a great writer. His short stories seem like a collection of fever dreams woven together into a magical tapestry.

Each story is unique but they blend into a wonderful collection that will take the reader on a fantastic voyage of the mind. Recommended highly for readers of all ages. Fans of American Gods, Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who, Fairy Tales, Pirates, Wanderers, Werewolves and other strange things that snarl or smile in the night will find buried treasuries amongst these tales.

I shall seek out more Gaiman short stories.

Neil Gaiman tells great stories in his fiction, and the short pieces in his collection titled, Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances, reveal his talent on every page. Dr. Who fans will especially enjoy the episode he wrote for that program. Gaiman’s imagination seems to know no bounds, and as he draws readers into the twists and turns of his creations, he displays the versatility of his writing. I enjoyed every piece in this collection from the shortest to the longest.

Rating: Four-star (I like it)

There were some terrific stories in this collection. I very much enjoyed 'Orange' mostly because it was so different. I enjoyed reading the introduction with explanations of when or why the story was written. There were more stories I enjoyed but I have such a hard time not giving away the end on a full-length story I would surely give away the endings on these. 'Click Clack Rattlebag' though was creepy and I may not trust a story again. Definitely a book for those who like a story that makes them think, creeps them out and provides a sense of justice.

Worth iiiiiiiit! I've done individual reviews for all the short stories currently listed on Goodreads, so you can look for those to get a better idea of my opinions. Some are meh, but the majority are great, leading to a book which is well worth purchasing.

If you get a chance at the audiobook, it's highly recommended! Read by Neil Gaiman himself, so be prepared for hours of his sweet, sweet British voice making love to your ears.

Best story: "Nothing O'Clock," the Doctor Who short. It's like a perfectly written episode!

I got a copy of this book to review through Librarything’s Early Reviewer program. This is Gaiman’s third short story collection and it was a good one that covered a wide breadth of genres. I honestly don’t have a ton to say about it, if you enjoy Gaiman’s writing style you will most likely enjoy this collection. I am a huge fan and enjoyed it, although I had read some of the stories previously.

There are a broad range of stories in here as well as some poems. Some stories are very short and some reach nearly novella length. They cover a very broad variety of topics, although the majority of the stories have some sort of eerie or disconcerting thread through them.

For those who are huge Gaiman fans (like myself) you should be aware that many of these stories have been published elsewhere, so you may have already read them. I own the individual books for both The Sleeper and the Spindle (incredibly well done fairy tale retelling) and The Truth is a Black Cave in the Mountains (another well done story). I had also already listened to Click Clack the Rattlebag on Audible (this was a well done creepy Halloween story).

I think my favorite of the bunch was the one where Gaiman did a story for each month of the year; each stories was inspired by tweets from his fans. I also really enjoyed “And Weep, Like Alexander” which was a funny little story about a man who un-invents annoying things. “Nothing O’Clock” was another fun story that was set in the Doctor Who universe (I am a huge Doctor Who fan and Gaiman’s writing style works very well for a Doctor Who story).

I enjoyed many of the stories and believe Gaiman is exceptional at crafting short stories. This is another of those books where I think the stories would have made a bigger and more long lasting impression on me if I had read one or two of them a night. Since I was reading this for review I instead read many stories each night and it was a lot to digest. There weren’t really any that stood out as being spectacular, but they were all well done.

Overall a very solid collection of short stories by Gaiman. They are all very well written and cover a wide breadth of topics. Definitely pick this up if you are a Neil Gaiman fan; I would also recommend to fans of quirky and eerie short story collections.

I received this book for free from LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. All opinions in this post are my own.

This is a collection of “short fictions and disturbances” from Gaiman. All stories are a little spooky, creepy, unsettling or magical in some way. It features The Sleeper and the Spindle, as well as stories that contain familiar characters, like Shadow from American Gods and even the Eleventh Doctor.

Short story collections are always hard for me to judge. It’s hard to give an overall judgement when each story can be so different. Some I really loved, some were alright, others didn’t impress me, and I didn’t understand the poetry. But it’s safe to say, overall, I enjoyed this book and I’m glad I own it. I loved the magical elements and the overall creep-factor of most of the stories. I also liked that he put the intros for the stories in the beginning of the book, as their own section. I chose to read each intro before it’s respective story, but it gives readers the option to read them all at once if they choose.

My favorites were:
Orange – a story in the form of a government questionnaire file
A Calendar of Tales – a short story for each month of the year, with my favorite being the story for October which features a genie and was quite sweet (and was possibly my favorite tale in the whole book)
The Case of Death and Honey – a semi-supernatural take on Sherlock Holmes
Click-Clack the Rattlebag – a short but incredibly creepy tale (and was probably my second favorite tale)
Nothing O’Clock – a story with Amy and the Eleventh Doctor, which I found to be more entertaining than any episode featuring those two
The Sleeper and the Spindle – Gaiman’s take on Sleeping Beauty

I really don’t have any major complaints – I’ve never cared for poetry, so the few poems he included really did nothing for me (mostly I finished the with “I don’t get it”), but that’s nothing against Gaiman.

Fans of Gaiman will want to add this to their collection. If you’re new to his work and looking for a good sample with a darker focus, check this out.

3 favorites from Gaiman's book:

Sherlock Holmes story - wonderful writing, fascinating twist, really fun to read.

Dr. Who - Gaiman does his own thing, with a tale that could easily make it to the TV show.

Sleeping Beauty - the story, after she becomes queen, of a spell that comes back to haunt the whole kingdom. Great idea for a plot, well executed.

This book is well worth reading!

Neil Gaiman's "Trigger Warning" is a collection of his short work (from less than a page in length to a few dozen). Gaiman is a wonderful story teller. He always seems to know where to give a reader information and where to let their imagination fill in the blanks.
These stories & poems show a wide breadth of story types and yet all of them meld the real and fantasy in a way uniquely Gaiman. Because of the criteria for selection, many of them would be considered thriller or horror stories but without the gore that typifies many of the modern horror genre.
As with any collection of shorts, there are some which are hits and others which are misses. My favorites included "The Thing About Cassandra" and "And Weep, Like Alexander." These two presented, to me, such a different way of viewing reality or at least the things we consider real that although they were two of the simpler stories they were still very impactful. The story that was most disappointing to me (A Calendar of Tales) started out like a Sci-fi adventure and ended confusing. Likely I missed the point, but then no author hits a home run with every swing.
If you have liked anything Neil Gaiman has written or if you just want some good stories to read on a dark night, I recommend this book.

**Full Disclosure: I received this book as part of a Goodreads First-Reads giveaway. No review was requested or required, but it seems like the right thing to do.**

This was my first introduction to Neil Gaiman’s stories. The book is a collection of short stories that are a mixture of strange, edgy, frightening, absurd, and confusing. My favorites were The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains, February Tale, and Black Dog.

I wondered as I was reading if some of the stories were the beginning of a novel that was then abandoned. The stories were all so different that I really would not know what to expect next and left me confused about the author. While some of the stories were interesting, some just left me shaking my head.

heartbreaking, heartracing...so many things all in one place..
The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury truly was wrenching as I could not stop thinking about Terry Pratchett's death (he was all I could think about while reading it but that could be just me). I think I grieved finally while reading that story.
Cassandra was twisty and wonderful. The Click Clacks Man?!?! SO GOOD!!
Neil is at the top of his game when he shows us his short works, and I love every single one of them.

Fans of Neil Gaiman's work will eat this up. The unintiated may find it a bit daunting (and not truly understand the poems that are smattered throughout).

Although Gaiman's prologue speaks to a theme in TRIGGER WARNING I did not really see one. I just enjoyed the majority of the short fictions and disturbances --- particularly the short stories involving both Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Who.

For those who read AMERCIAN GODS --- there is a nice treat for you as well!

Wow, where do I begin? It’s not easy describing this delightful collection of short stories and poetry. Peculiar. Strange. Dark. Hauntingly beautiful. I can go on, but you see my point, don’t you? To borrow a quote from one of the characters, Trigger Warning is ‘cool beans’.

Full review on Priscilla and her Books

Neil Gaiman continues to grow stronger as a writer and this collection of short stories and poems shows his amazing capacity as a storyteller. Like any collection like this, there is some variety in the strength of the individual tales, but stories like “The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains” and “The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury” are phenomenal and make this collection strong overall.

there are plenty of different stories here; my two favorites are the Doctor Who story, and of course the excellent "Shadow" tale, Aka ~ Balder. Mr Gaiman, once again shows his versatility, and his Mastery, of just about any, genre. I thoroughly enjoyed these tales; I would've liked to have given 41/2 stars for this excellent compilation of short stories and prose. if you are a Neil fan,of which there are many; this is a must read!

I love short fiction and this was a real treat! The stories/poems were diverse in subject (intentionally so) and highly entertaining. There are some previously published stories as well as some new selections included in the book. Neil Gaiman also includes explanations of his inspirations for each story. I simply can't recommend this book enough!

Neil Gaiman says that he likes short stories where there are no wasted words. Well, this is that kind of book. A few of the tales are not five star material, but most of them are outstanding. My favorite: the October story from A Calendar of Tales. Orange and Click-Clack the Rattleback were close runners-up. It was also nice to revisit Nothing o'clock, the story that Mr. Gaiman wrote for Doctor Who (is it too late to have Matt Smith come back and film it?), or read about what Shadow is up to after American Gods. Actually, now that I think back, all of the stories are fantastic. The bonus: this was an audiobook, so I listened to Mr. Gaiman himself narrating. He is just one of the best authors alive.

Neil Gaiman, a master of short fiction, explores many unique ways to tell stories in this delightful new collection. One of my favorites, entitled simply "Orange," unfolded as a one-sided interview in which only the responses of the main character were provided. From nothing more than her answers, the bizarre and humorous events of her recent history can be pieced together. For anyone who loves Neil Gaiman, Trigger Warnings is a must read.

If you like Neil Gaiman, you will love this book. As with his other collections, it is an eclectic mix of very short prose and poetry, short stories, and novellas. The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains, and Black Dog (starring Shadow, of American Gods fame) are real standouts. My only complaint is that I want another real novel!

My wife has very specific tastes when it comes to books, and I can never predict what will stick. This book, however, was an absolute page turner and she loved everything about it. I'll be reading it soon

I have to say that I have been disappointed more often than not with everything Gaiman has written of late, and this collection confirmed that opinion. Most of these stories reminded me of the "Bad Gaiman Challenge" and I even heard them being read in his voice, which, while usually pleasant, just made these stories worse in my mind. A couple of okay stories, but, on the whole, not worth my time.

This is a really solid collection of Gaiman's short fiction. Many other reviewers have made comments about specific stories. I just wanted to mention that Gaiman's narration of the audio CD is fantastic. I think listening to the stories during my daily commute was made much more enjoyable in some cases than if I had simply read the works in a paperback.

I think we find here a matter of personal taste. While I have an immense appreciation for Neil Gaiman's voice and craft, inevitably when one reads and reads and reads a certain author, she finds herself liking some works less than others. I'm still thinking about three of the stories in this collection, but this collection overall was not my favorite. I did really appreciate the explanation for why he wrote each of the stories in the author's note at the beginning. - Rita Arens, author of young adult novel THE OBVIOUS GAME (InkSpell Publishing, 2013) The Obvious Game

I think we find here a matter of personal taste. While I have an immense appreciation for Neil Gaiman's voice and craft, inevitably when one reads and reads and reads a certain author, she finds herself liking some works less than others. I'm still thinking about three of the stories in this collection, but this collection overall was not my favorite. I did really appreciate the explanation for why he wrote each of the stories in the author's note at the beginning. - Rita Arens, author of young adult novel THE OBVIOUS GAME (InkSpell Publishing, 2013) The Obvious Game

This is a collection of short stories that ends with one of my favorite characters from "American Gods"--Shadow. Some of the stories are so condensed that too fast a read renders them difficult to understand. I especially enjoyed the episode from "Dr. Who'.

Really good writing. Enjoyed just as much as his other works. American Gods short story "Black Dog" was highly enjoyable and makes me anticipate the sequel even more. So many little gems in here - well worth the read.

I will echo the opinions of the one and two star reviews. I have very much enjoyed Gaiman's other books and was expecting to love this one as well but one story after another is boring, confusing, just plain gruesome and largely pointless. I got the distinct impression that Gaiman felt he needed to publish something, gathered up some random writings he had lying around (easy enough!), decided he had enough to make book, and then pawned it off on loyal readers who would assume it would be a great read. It's not. I barely cared about any of the stories and I didn't get the sense he did either as he wrote them. Really, don't bother. Try some of his previous work instead.

I love how most of the stories are just a stretch of the imagination rather than completely fantasy. This collection especially reminded me of Edgar Allen Poe. Dark and intriguing speaking of things that sit on the cusp of darkness.

Just finished reading Trigger Warning and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I had not heard of Neil Gaiman before and was thrilled to find out he had written for Dr. Who. The short stories in the book were quite enjoyable. I am not a great fan of poetry so I can not give a yes or no on the poems in the book. I do know that now that I have read this book I will be actively looking for others written by this author.

The stories were OK and for the most part engaging. I like Neil's accent, but he reads too softly. I can't vacuum or take a walk along a road with any traffic on it at all. It's hard to understand him in a noisy environment. If you like his stuff, read it as text. I don't really care for his style It was a disappointing recommendation.

`Trigger Warning' is an entertaining collection of stories and poems. While not all of them succeed, the best stories here rank amongst the better works of fantasy produced in the last decade.

Read my full review at PopMythology.com.

Matt Hlinak
Author of DoG

You've been warned. Save your money. This book is nothing but stream of consciousness nonsense. I'm serious. And, Neil Gaiman should be ashamed of himself for palming off this gibberish on his fans who have made him a multimillionaire. It's disgusting.

I borrowed it from the library. Thankfully I did not waste my money. This was unfortunately my introduction to Neil Gaiman's work and this one has disappointed me to an extent that I am unlikely to return again. I have read more than 50% of the book and I have tossed this book away. I think I am qualified to give it a 1 star rating. Let me tell you, I have felt nothing except anger towards Gaiman as I limped through the pages of this horrendous book. Reading this book has been an awful experience, which I was fine to be subjected to, as long as I took away something from the stories and the characters. Reading those stories has been equivalent to chasing a mirage. With each story I was left with an emotion of feeling defrauded. I find myself googling each and every story to understand what the point/gist of the story was. In reality, it's nothing. High end english words strung together to form vacuous sentences which make even emptier paragraphs and a largely pointless book. Has to be in my top 10 list of book I loathe, unless of course I inflict upon myself another torture of reading a Gaiman's book. The book is seriously, dangerously, despicably overrated.

Regardless of how popular or commercially succesful he is - these stories are TERRIBLE. The only thing good and orginal about this book is the title, which is wasted on stories that aren't scary or creepy in the least. His style is inconsistent within peices, which consist of trite, unoriginal ideas presented in the most bland and boring fashion. If you are bored with the world and looking for a little excitment and entertainment this book could easily make you loose all hope for humankind and find yourself running to the kitchen to stab forks into your eyes in the hopes of providing some kind of stimulation to your brain before it shrivels up and dies from boredom like I did. I've never hated a book enough to go to the trouble to actually warn others and complain publicly. I guess I should thank Neil Gaiman for giving me that motivation. Thanks, Neil.

I keep hoping to find an author's writing style that grabs me by the throat and drags me into the stories told. Not this book.
Gaiman's writing is pedantic and boring. As I read from story to story, I kept waiting to be choked by an incredible writing style.
I was extremely disappointed by Gaiman. I ho-hummed from one story to another. Even the Sherlock Holmes story was a
snoozer. None of the stories made me think about anything other than "When is this snoozefest going to be over?"
Oy. Keep looking.

Oh my goodness, this man can write! There are so many "brain tweaks" in this collection - if you don't like one, keep reading, the next will be different. I think my favorite is "The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury".

Anthologies are a mixed bag, and sometimes even anthologies by your favorite authors are no exception. Most of the stories are okay. It's difficult to think of even one of his as a dud, so I'm just going to say those weren't for me.

My favorites are:

The Thing About Cassandra - Really good twist

"The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains" - Classic revenge story of which I am always a fan

Some of the stories in A Calendar of Tales - It's weird, like an anthology within an anthology, loved the book igloo, the brazier, and the genie in particular

The Case of Death and Honey- Some A+ Sherlock Holmes fanfiction.

The Man who Forgot Ray Bradbury- One of my favorite authors talking about one of my other favorite authors. Such a sweet tribute to a magical man who held so many worlds in his mind

Nothing O'Clock- I'm a big fan of the Matt Smith era of Doctor Who, so this one brought back some nostalgia

The Return of the Thin White Duke - Technology Bowie on an adventure. Love it.

Black Dog - A continuation of American Gods. I love that no matter how much weird stuff happens to Shadow, he's constantly surprised by it.

I'm not particularly enamored of his style, and I think sometimes he goes for cuteness/shock rather than for literary merit.
A particularly annoying thing is that about 40% of the book is an "introduction" describing his stories, how he wrote them and what they mean.
That's the height of authorial arrogance.